Service-based, separated access and paging cell selection and reselection

ABSTRACT

Systems and techniques are disclosed to separate paging and access cell selection (and use) among available cells based on different paging cell and access cell requirements and specific service availability. A UE selects a first cell that meets paging cell requirements as a paging cell and a second cell that meets service requirements as an access cell. Once the UE selects a paging cell, the UE camps on the paging cell to wait for a paging request or a mobile originated request. The UE can select and camp on the access cell prior to a data need, where latency requirements are strict, or delay access cell selection until there is data to transmit where latency requirements are more lax. The UE may also include measurement information of surrounding cells with a paging response/service request, which a core network uses to speed up establishment of dual connectivity or carrier aggregation.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority to and the benefit of the U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 62/213,021, filed Sep. 1, 2015, whichis hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to wirelesscommunication systems, and more particularly, to the separation ofpaging and access cell selection among available cells based ondifferent paging cell and access cell service requirements and specificservice availability. Enabling and providing techniques to allow a userequipment (UE) to be able to select and reselect both paging and accesscells based the availability of a cell to support a particularrequirement and/or service can ensure appropriate network connectionsare made and sustained, improve latency issues, establish faster networkconnections, improve overall UE connectivity, and improve userexperiences in a variety of use cases and deployment scenarios.

INTRODUCTION

In wireless communication networks, a user equipment (UE) selects orreselects a serving cell in idle mode based on the radio conditions andpublic land mobile network (PLMN) information of a network access node,such as a base station. However, for new and developing services (e.g.,industrial automation, self-driving cars, etc.) that require ultra-lowlatency (e.g., ˜1 ms round trip time (RTT) or less) and highly reliablecommunication connections, the use of radio conditions and PLMNinformation may not be sufficient to ensure that the latency andreliability requirements necessary for proper implementation of theservice are met.

Further, the UE typically selects the serving cell to provide multiplefunctionalities, including paging functionality and network accessfunctionality. In other words, paging and access are currently coupledtogether such that the UE will perform access to the network in the samecell in which it is paged from the network. But, again, for new anddeveloping services the service requirements for paging may differ fromthe service requirements for network access. For example, the UE mayrequire that paging be on a reliable radio access technology (RAT) sothat the UE is sure to be reachable. In contrast, the service for whichthe UE requires network access may demand high throughput, such that ahigh throughput cell and/or RAT may be required. These requirements forpaging and network access can be at odds, however, since a highthroughput RAT may not be suitable for reliable paging, and a RAT thatprovides reliable paging similarly may not be suitable for highthroughput.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF SOME EXAMPLES

The following summarizes some aspects of the present disclosure toprovide a basic understanding of the discussed technology. This summaryis not an extensive overview of all contemplated features of thedisclosure, and is intended neither to identify key or critical elementsof all aspects of the disclosure nor to delineate the scope of any orall aspects of the disclosure. Its sole purpose is to present someconcepts of one or more aspects of the disclosure in summary form as aprelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

In one aspect of the disclosure, a method is provided that includesdetermining, by a user equipment (UE), a paging service requirement andan access service requirement for a service to use in communication witha network. The method further comprises selecting, by the UE, a firstcell through which the UE receives a paging service from a base stationbased on the paging service requirement. The method further comprisesselecting, by the UE, a second cell through which the UE obtains theservice based on the access service requirement.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, a method is provided thatincludes sending, from a network, a paging signal to a user equipment(UE) via first cell on which the UE is camped. The method furthercomprises receiving, at the network, a paging response from the UE via asecond cell on which the UE is camped in response to the paging signalreceived via the first cell, the second cell being different from thefirst cell. The method further comprises establishing, by the network, adata connection with the second cell in response to the received pagingresponse to communicate with the UE via the second cell.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus is provided thatincludes a processor configured to determine a paging servicerequirement and an access service requirement for a service to use incommunication with a network, select a first cell through which theapparatus receives a paging service from a base station based on thepaging service requirement, and select a second cell through which theapparatus obtains the service based on the access service requirement.The apparatus further includes a transceiver configured to camp on thefirst cell and camp on the second cell after their respective selection.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, a network system is providedthat includes a first node configured to send a paging signal to a userequipment (UE) via first cell on which the UE is camped, and receive apaging response from the UE via a second cell on which the UE is campedin response to the paging signal received via the first cell, the secondcell being different from the first cell. The network system furtherincludes a second node configured to establish a data connection withthe second cell in response to the received paging response tocommunicate with the UE via the second cell.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, a computer readable mediumhaving program code recorded thereon is provided, the program codeincluding code for causing a user equipment (UE) to determine a pagingservice requirement and an access service requirement for a service touse in communication with a network. The program code further includescode for causing the UE to select a first cell through which the UEreceives a paging service from a base station based on the pagingservice requirement. The program code further includes code for causingthe UE to select a second cell through which the UE obtains the servicebased on the access service requirement.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, a computer readable mediumhaving program code recorded thereon is provided, the program codeincluding code for causing a network to send a paging signal to a userequipment (UE) via first cell on which the UE is camped. The programcode further includes code for causing the network to receive a pagingresponse from the UE via a second cell on which the UE is camped inresponse to the paging signal received via the first cell, the secondcell being different from the first cell. The program code furtherincludes code for causing the network to establish a data connectionwith the second cell in response to the received paging response tocommunicate with the UE via the second cell.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus is provided thatincludes means for determining, by a user equipment (UE), a pagingservice requirement and an access service requirement for a service touse in communication with a network. The apparatus further includesmeans for selecting, by the UE, a first cell through which the UEreceives a paging service from a base station based on the pagingservice requirement. The apparatus further includes means for selecting,by the UE, a second cell through which the UE obtains the service basedon the access service requirement.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, a network system includesmeans for sending, from the network system, a paging signal to a userequipment (UE) via first cell on which the UE is camped. The networksystem further includes means for receiving, at the network system, apaging response from the UE via a second cell on which the UE is campedin response to the paging signal received via the first cell, the secondcell being different from the first cell. The network system furtherincludes means for establishing, by the network system, a dataconnection with the second cell in response to the received pagingresponse to communicate with the UE via the second cell.

Other aspects, features, and embodiments of the present invention willbecome apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, upon reviewingthe following description of specific, exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention in conjunction with the accompanying figures. Whilefeatures of the present invention may be discussed relative to certainembodiments and figures below, all embodiments of the present inventioncan include one or more of the advantageous features discussed herein.In other words, while one or more embodiments may be discussed as havingcertain advantageous features, one or more of such features may also beused in accordance with the various embodiments of the inventiondiscussed herein. In similar fashion, while exemplary embodiments may bediscussed below as device, system, or method embodiments it should beunderstood that such exemplary embodiments can be implemented in variousdevices, systems, and methods.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a wireless communication network in accordance withvarious aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates a wireless communication network in accordance withvarious aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary wireless communication deviceaccording to embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an exemplary base station device accordingto embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary transmitter andreceiver system in accordance with various aspects of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 6 is a protocol diagram illustrating exemplary signaling aspectsbetween a UE, paging cell, access cell, and core network in accordancewith various aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a protocol diagram illustrating exemplary signaling aspectsbetween a UE, paging cell, access cell, and core network in accordancewith various aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a protocol diagram illustrating exemplary signaling aspectsbetween a UE, serving cell, and core network in accordance with variousaspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method for wirelesscommunication in accordance with various aspects of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method for wirelesscommunication in accordance with various aspects of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method for wirelesscommunication for dual connectivity or carrier aggregation in accordancewith various aspects of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description set forth below, in connection with theappended drawings, is intended as a description of variousconfigurations and is not intended to represent the only configurationsin which the concepts described herein may be practiced. The detaileddescription includes specific details for the purpose of providing athorough understanding of the various concepts. However, it will beapparent to those skilled in the art that these concepts may bepracticed without these specific details. In some instances, well-knownstructures and components are shown in block diagram form in order toavoid obscuring such concepts.

The techniques described herein may be used for various wirelesscommunication networks such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA, LTEnetworks, GSM networks, and other networks. The terms “network” and“system” are often used interchangeably. A CDMA network may implement aradio technology such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA),cdma2000, etc. UTRA includes Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) and other variants ofCDMA. cdma2000 covers IS-2000, IS-95 and IS-856 standards. A TDMAnetwork may implement a radio technology such as Global System forMobile Communications (GSM). An OFDMA network may implement a radiotechnology such as Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB),IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDMA, etc.UTRA and E-UTRA are part of Universal Mobile Telecommunication System(UMTS). 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) and LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) are newreleases of UMTS that use E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A and GSMare described in documents from an organization named “3rd GenerationPartnership Project” (3GPP). CDMA2000 and UMB are described in documentsfrom an organization named “3rd Generation Partnership Project 2”(3GPP2). The techniques described herein may be used for the wirelessnetworks and radio technologies mentioned above as well as otherwireless networks and radio technologies, such as a next generation(e.g., 5th Generation (5G)) network. Embodiments of this disclosure aredirected to any type of modulation scheme that may be used on any one ormore of the above-recited networks and/or those yet to be developed.

Embodiments of the present disclosure introduce systems and techniquesto separate paging and access cell selection (and use) among availablecells based on different paging cell and access cell servicerequirements and specific service availability. In an embodiment, a UEmay require that paging be on a reliable RAT so that the UE is sure tobe reachable but require a high throughput cell and/or RAT for datatransfer for a given service. To accomplish this, the UE may select afirst cell as a paging cell and a second cell as an access cell to takeadvantage of differences between the cells.

For example, a UE may first proceed with selecting a paging cell. The UEmay do this based on the characteristics of the different cellscurrently accessible by the UE. Preference may be given to cells withlarger coverage areas, so that the UE does not need to re-perform anyregistration procedure so often (which results in battery drain). The UEmay compare measured and reported characteristics of the cells againsteach other and to any requirements stored by the UE itself. Once the UEselects a cell as paging cell, the UE may then camp on the paging cellwhile still in IDLE mode to wait for a paging request or a mobileoriginated request.

In an embodiment, the UE may then consider whether the selected pagingcell may also be suitable for access. This may involve comparing theaccess requirements of a given service with characteristics of theselected paging cell. If the selected paging cell also meets therequirements of the given service, the UE may select the same cell foraccess as well. Though possible, this may not occur frequently since itmay be difficult for one cell to meet the diverging requirements ofpaging and access. Instead, the UE may compare the requirements of thegiven service against characteristics measured and/or reported for othercells accessible by the UE (e.g., according to an access cell list). TheUE may wait to select an access cell until data transmission is to occur(e.g., where higher latencies are tolerable for a specific service) orwhile still in IDLE mode (e.g., where latency tolerance is low) and campon that selected access cell (concurrent to camping on the selectedpaging cell).

Further, a UE may enable faster establishment of dual connectivity orcarrier aggregation schemes with a core network. When responding to apaging request or sending a service request to a core network, a UE mayinclude measurement information for one or more cells around the UE. Thecore network may use this measurement information to provide bearer andother configuration information to the base station and UE withouthaving to request the UE to perform measurements. This improves theefficiency of the connection(s) between UEs and core networks byreducing the time required to establish dual connectivity or carrieraggregation and amount of signaling overhead.

FIG. 1 illustrates a wireless communication network 100 in accordancewith various aspects of the present disclosure. The wirelesscommunication network 100 may include a number of UEs 102, as well as anumber of base stations 104. The base stations 104 may include anevolved Node B (eNodeB or eNB) as just one example. A base station 104may also be referred to as an access node (AN), a base transceiverstation, a node B, or an access point, and the like. For purposes ofsimplicity, reference will be made herein to these as “base stations” asa general term, though it will be recognized that these may be any ofthe types listed herein (AN, eNB, access point, base station, etc.).

The base stations 104 communicate with the UEs 102 as indicated bycommunication signals 106. A UE 102 may communicate with the basestation 104 via an uplink and a downlink. The downlink (or forward link)refers to the communication link from the base station 104 to the UE102. The uplink (or reverse link) refers to the communication link fromthe UE 102 to the base station 104. The base stations 104 may alsocommunicate with one another, directly or indirectly, over wired and/orwireless connections, as indicated by communication signals 108.

UEs 102 may be dispersed throughout the wireless network 100, as shown,and each UE 102 may be stationary or mobile. The UE 102 may also bereferred to as a terminal, a mobile station, a subscriber unit, etc. TheUE 102 may be a cellular phone, a smartphone, a personal digitalassistant, a wireless modem, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, adrone, an entertainment device, a hub, a gateway, an appliance, awearable, peer-to-peer and device-to-device components/devices(including fixed, stationary, and mobile), Internet of Things (IoT)components/devices, and Internet of Everything (IoE) components/devices,etc. The wireless communication network 100 is one example of a networkto which various aspects of the disclosure apply.

Each base station 104 may provide communication coverage for aparticular geographic area. In 3GPP, the term “cell” can refer to thisparticular geographic coverage area of a base station 104 and/or a basestation subsystem serving the coverage area, depending on the context inwhich the term is used. In this regard, a base station 104 may providecommunication coverage for a macro cell, a pico cell, a femto cell,and/or other types of cell. A macro cell generally covers a relativelylarge geographic area (e.g., several kilometers in radius) and may allowunrestricted access by UEs 102 with service subscriptions with thenetwork provider. A pico cell may generally cover a relatively smallergeographic area and may allow unrestricted access by UEs 102 withservice subscriptions with the network provider. A femto cell may alsogenerally cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a home) and,in addition to unrestricted access, may also provide restricted accessby UEs 102 having an association with the femto cell (e.g., UEs 102 in aclosed subscriber group (CSG), UEs 102 for users in the home, and thelike). A base station for a macro cell may be referred to as a macrobase station. A base station for a pico cell may be referred to as apico base station. A base station for a femto cell may be referred to asa femto base station or a home base station.

In the example shown in FIG. 1, the base stations 104 a, 104 b and 104 care examples of macro base station for the coverage areas 110 a, 110 band 110 c, respectively. The base stations 104 d and 104 e are examplesof pico and/or femto base stations for the coverage areas 110 d and 110e, respectively. A base station 104 may support one or multiple (e.g.,two, three, four, and the like) cells. As can be seen, reference to thecoverage areas 110 a, 110 b, 110 c, 110 d, and 110 e is referring to thecells associated with the base stations 104 a, 104 b, 104 c, 104 d, and104 e, respectively. Although each base station 104 in FIG. 1 isillustrated as having a single associated coverage area 110, it will berecognized that each base station 104 can also have multiple coverageareas associated with different frequency carriers and bands, eachhaving different coverage characteristics (such as pathloss, etc.), andthat as described herein the selection of a paging cell and an accesscell could include the coverage areas of different base stations 104 ordifferent coverage areas for different frequency carriers/frequencybands at a single base station 104.

The wireless network 100 may also include relay stations. A relaystation is a station that receives a transmission of data and/or otherinformation from an upstream station (e.g., a base station 104, a UE102, or the like) and sends a transmission of the data and/or otherinformation to a downstream station (e.g., another UE 102, another basestation 104, or the like). A relay station may also be a UE that relaystransmissions for other UEs. A relay station may also be referred to asa relay base station, a relay UE, a relay, and the like. Some relays mayalso have UE capabilities/functionalities.

The wireless network 100 may support synchronous or asynchronousoperation. For synchronous operation, the base stations 104 may havesimilar frame timing, and transmissions from different base stations 104may be approximately aligned in time. For asynchronous operation, thebase stations 104 may have different frame timing, and transmissionsfrom different base stations 104 may not be aligned in time.

In some implementations, the wireless network 100 may utilize orthogonalfrequency division multiplexing (OFDM) on the downlink andsingle-carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) on the uplink.OFDM and SC-FDM partition the system bandwidth into multiple (K)orthogonal subcarriers, which are also commonly referred to as tones,bins, or the like. Each subcarrier may be modulated with data. Ingeneral, modulation symbols are sent in the frequency domain with OFDMand in the time domain with SC-FDM. The spacing between adjacentsubcarriers may be fixed, and the total number of subcarriers (K) may bedependent on the system bandwidth. For example, K may be equal to 72,180, 300, 600, 900, and 1200 for a corresponding system bandwidth of1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, or 20 megahertz (MHz), respectively. The systembandwidth may also be partitioned into sub-bands. For example, asub-band may cover 1.08 MHz, and there may be 1, 2, 4, 8 or 16 sub-bandsfor a corresponding system bandwidth of 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, or 20 MHz,respectively. Other frequency, code, and/or time division approaches mayalso be used.

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, a UE 102 may bewithin multiple cells at the same time, which the UE 102 may takeadvantage of in order to use one cell as a paging cell and another cellas an access cell. As used herein, a paging cell refers to a cell, orcoverage area 110 for a base station 104, that is used by a UE 102 toreceive paging messages and obtain system information from the basestation 104 and/or a network, such as a core network. As used herein, anaccess cell refers to a cell, or coverage area 110 for a base station104, that is used by a UE 102 for network access to obtain a servicesuch as user data transmission/reception for background or interactiveclass service. As noted, the coverage areas can be associated withdifferent base stations 104 or different frequency carrier/frequencybands of a single base station 104, or some combination of the above.

FIG. 1 provides an illustrative example. As shown, UE 102 a is withinthe coverage areas 110 a, 110 b, and 110 c of base stations 104 a, 104b, and 104 c, respectively, at the same time. As also shown, UE 102 b iswithin the coverage areas 110 e and 110 c of base stations 104 e and 104c, respectively, at the same time. Further, UE 102 f is within thecoverage areas 110 d and 110 a of base stations 104 d and 104 a,respectively, at the same time. Discussion will focus on a specific UE102 for simplicity of discussion. Looking at UE 102 b as a specificexample, the UE 102 b may be in IDLE mode while within coverage of bothbase stations 104 e and 104 c. As illustrated, the macro coverage area110 c of base station 104 c is large relative to the coverage area 110 eof the base station 104 e (which may be, for example, a pico or femtobase station).

The coverage area 110 c may be suitable for the UE 102 b to select as apaging cell, since paging typically is best served by a large coveragearea. For example, the macro cell of the coverage area 110 c may bedeployed on a sub-6 GHz carrier to provide a larger coverage area.Otherwise, if the coverage area of a base station 104 used for paging issmall, the UE 102 b would have to perform a registration procedure muchmore often, which can end up in significant (and potentiallyunnecessary) battery drain on the UE 102 b. But a cell that iswell-suited for paging may not be well-suited for access.

For example, the UE 102 b may require or desire an access cell thatprovides much more radio resource than a macro cell may be able toprovide (e.g., to achieve a high data rate in transmission/reception ofdata for some service). Such high data rates sometimes are best achievedin smaller cells, such as femto or pico cells. For example, the cell ofthe coverage area 110 e may be deployed with mmW frequency bands tooffer significant bandwidth for data transfer. In an embodiment, thebase station 104 c and the base station 104 e may be deployed in a sameradio access technology (“RAT”) (e.g., LTE or 5G) while in analternative embodiment, the base station 104 c may be deployed with afirst RAT (such as LTE) while the base station 104 e may be deployedwith a second RAT (such as 5G).

At times, a single cell may not be able to simultaneously meet thediverging requirements of the UE 102 b for both paging and access.According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the UE 102 b mayfirst focus on selecting a paging cell while in IDLE mode. The UE 102 bmay select a paging cell based on the system information provided fromeach base station 104 in which the UE 102 b receives coverage, which inFIG. 1 are base stations 104 c and 104 e. Specifically, the UE 102 b maydetermine which of the base stations 104 c and 104 e provide a suitablecoverage area that, for example, is large enough that the UE 102 b doesnot need to perform registration procedures as often so as to conservebattery power. This information may be stored and/or determined at theUE 102 b as part of a paging service requirement (which may alsoinclude, for example, reliability requirements/preferences, latencyrequirements/preferences, and power requirements/preferences to name afew examples). In this example, the UE 102 b selects the base station104 c whose corresponding coverage area 110 c better meets the desiredcharacteristics as a paging cell (i.e., meets the paging servicerequirement), and camps on the base station 104 c while still in IDLEmode, waiting for a paging message from a core network.

In an embodiment, the UE 102 b then turns to selecting a base station104 as its access cell. In an embodiment, the UE 102 b may wait toselect an access cell until data transmission is to occur (e.g., wherehigher latencies are tolerable for a specific service) while in anotherembodiment (e.g., where latency tolerance is low) the UE 102 b mayselect an access cell while still in IDLE mode and camp on that selectedaccess cell (concurrent to camping on the selected paging cell). Toselect an access cell, the UE 102 b obtains system information from eachof the base stations 104 c, 104 e whose coverage areas 110 c, 110 e theUE 102 b is within. The UE 102 b compares one or more aspects of thesystem information, such as the RAT, data rate, bandwidth,frequency(ies), signal strength (e.g., RSS), and/or other informationrelevant to the selected service for which the UE 102 b requires access,to the requirements of the selected service, sometimes referred to asaccess service requirements (which may include, for example, throughputrequirements/preferences, latency requirements/preferences, reliabilityrequirements/preferences, quality of service requirements/preferences,and cost requirements/preferences to name a few examples). The UE 102 bthen selects a base station 104 to serve as the access cell for the UE102 b. In an embodiment, the selection of the paging and access cellsmay occur while the service (one or more of them) at the UE 102 b isinactive (e.g., not currently in use). The selection, by default, is forpaging and access cells that meet the one or more service requirementsand/or preferences once the service becomes active. In anotherembodiment, the selection may occur while the service is active, forexample where the service is available to receive or transmit data,though traffic may not be currently coming or going for the service atthe UE 102 b.

Cell selection can be done in a variety of manners. For example, in anembodiment, the UE 102 b may select the same cell as both the pagingcell and the access cell, though often this may not be the case. In analternative embodiment, the UE 102 b may select different cells foreach—in FIG. 1, for example, the UE 102 b may select the base station104 e whose coverage area is small and which may provide a betterthroughput for the type of service which UE 102 b seeks to obtain. Whenthe UE 102 b becomes mobile, as can be seen from FIG. 1 the UE 102 b mayleave the coverage area of a selected access cell while still remainingin the coverage area of the selected paging cell. Thus, the UE 102 b mayreselect an access cell while retaining the same paging cell (as will berecognized, the converse may also occur: a paging cell may be reselectedwhile the access cell is not).

Turning now to FIG. 2, a wireless communication network 200 isillustrated in accordance with various aspects of the presentdisclosure. The wireless communication network 200 may include one ormore UEs 102 in communication with an access network 202, a core network204, and an external network 212.

The access network 202 may be or include, for example, the wirelesscommunication network 100 as discussed above with respect to FIG. 1. Forexample, the access network 202 may include base stations 104.Continuing with the example discussed above with respect to FIG. 1, theUE 102 may be UE 102 b in communication with base station 104 c and basestation 104 e via connections 251 and 253. For example, the UE 102 b mayselect base station 104 c to serve as the paging cell, and thereforeconnection 251 to the UE 102 b may convey paging messages from the corenetwork 204. The UE 102 b may select the base station 104 e to serve asthe access cell, and therefore connection 253 to the UE 102 b mayprovide the uplink and/or downlink data between the UE 102 b and thecore network 204. The base stations 104 may also communicate with eachother via interface 255. The interface 255 may be an interconnectionsuch as an X2 interface, for example, that may be used to aid inefficient handovers between base stations 104 as the UE 102 b is intransit.

The base stations 104 may be in communication with different elements ofthe core network 204 via connections 257 and 259. The connections 257may be S1-MME interfaces and the connections 259 may be S1-U interfaces,to name some examples. The core network 204 may include a mobilitymanagement entity (MME) 206, a serving gateway (S-GW) 208, and a packetdata network gateway (P-GW) 210. As will be recognized, the core network204 includes other network elements that are not shown in FIG. 2 forsimplicity of discussion of aspects of the present disclosure.

The MME 206 is a control node that handles signaling between the UE 102via the base stations 104 and the rest of the core network 204. The MME206 may be in charge of control plane functions related to subscribers(e.g., UE 102) and session management. For example, the MME 206 mayprovide mobility session management as well as support for handovers toother networks, roaming, and subscriber authentication. The MME 206 mayassist in selection of a S-GW 208 during an initial attach of the UE102, non-access stratum (NAS) signaling, NAS signaling security, P-GW210 selection, bearer management functions including dedicated bearerestablishment, lawful interception of signaling traffic, and otherfunctions to name just a few examples.

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, a paging request mayoriginate from the core network 204. For example, the MME 206 maydistribute a paging request to the UE 102 b via the paging cell operatedby base station 104 c when a connection needs to be established with theUE 102 b (e.g., a mobile terminated connection). This may occur when theUE 102 b is in IDLE mode. The MME 206 may distribute the paging requestto multiple base stations 104 based on one or more tracking areas wherethe UE 102 b is expected to be located, including the base station 104c, for example via connection(s) 257. As a result, the core network 204may page the UE 102 b via the base station 104 c in response to the UE102 b having selected the base station 104 c on which to camp as itspaging cell. In an embodiment, the MME 206 may receive a paging responsefrom the UE 102 b via the base station 104 c (the paging cell).

The S-GW 208 is a gateway that provides an interface between the accessnetwork 202 and the core network 204 for data (such as IP packets). TheS-GW 208 assists in inter-base station handover, provides mobilityanchoring for mobility between different standards (e.g., 2G, 3G, 4G,LTE, 5G and future networks, etc.), lawful interception, packet-basedrouting and forwarding, and accounting for inter-operator charging toname just a few examples. The S-GW 208 may retain information about oneor more bearers when the UE 102 b is in an IDLE mode as well as bufferdownlink data while the MME 206 initiates paging of the UE 102 b (e.g.,via the paging cell on which the UE 102 b has decided to camp) toreestablish the bearers. The S-GW 208 may also be in communication withthe MME 206 in the core network 204 or, in an embodiment, be physicallyco-located or combined with the MME 206 in a single system.

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the S-GW 208 mayreceive data from the UE 102 b via the base station 104 e that has beenselected as the access cell (e.g., via the connection 259) as well astransmit data to the UE 102 b via the access cell of base station 104 e.In an embodiment, the S-GW 208 may receive a service request from the UE102 b via the base station 104 e where there was no page, but insteadthe UE 102 b initiates connection on its own initiative. Thecommunication may be in furtherance of a specific service. Furtherdownlink and uplink data may be received at, and transmitted from, theS-GW 208 via the access cell's base station 104 e.

Thus, according to embodiments of the present disclosure, a first nodesuch as MME 206 may send paging requests to the UE 102 and receivepaging responses via a paging cell that the UE is camped on. A secondnode such as S-GW 208 may cooperate with the access cell to establish adata connection with the UE 102. In additional or alternativeembodiments of the present disclosure, a first node that sends pagingrequests originating from the core network 204 may be a first basestation 104 providing the paging cell. A second base station 104 mayestablish a data connection providing the access cell. These basestations 104 may be co-located (e.g., on a same physical tower), locatedat different physical towers, be same virtual base stations, etc.Further, the nodes may, in an embodiment, be cellular, while in otherembodiments the nodes may be in different operator networks withoutdeparting from the scope of the present disclosure.

The S-GW 208 routes and forwards data packets from the UE 102 b (via theaccess cell) to the P-GW 210 (and vice-versa). FIG. 2 illustrates asingle P-GW 210 for sake of simplicity, though it will be recognizedthat there may be multiple external networks to which data may bedirected or received, where external network 212 is just one example.The P-GW 210 provides connectivity between the core network 204 andexternal packet data networks 212 as the point of exit and entry fordata traffic from/to the UE 102 b . Some examples of external networksinclude one or more IP networks (and, in some embodiments,circuit-switched networks). The P-GW 210 may be involved in per-userbased packet filtering, lawful interception, service level gatingcontrol, service level rate enforcement, and packet screening to namejust a few examples.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary wireless communication device300 according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The wirelesscommunication device 300 may be a UE having any one of manyconfigurations described above. For purposes of example, wirelesscommunication device 300 may be a UE 102 as discussed above with respectto FIGS. 1 and 2.

As shown, the UE 102 may include a processor 302, a memory 304, a cellselection module 208, a transceiver 310 (including a modem 312 and RFunit 314), and an antenna 316. These elements may be in direct orindirect communication with each other, for example via one or morebuses.

The processor 302 may include a central processing unit (CPU), a digitalsignal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit(ASIC), a controller, a field programmable gate array (FPGA) device,another hardware device, a firmware device, or any combination thereofconfigured to perform the operations described herein with reference toUEs 102. In particular, the processor 302 may be utilized in combinationwith the other components of the UE 102, including cell selection module308, to perform the various functions associated with embodiments of thepresent disclosure. The processor 302 may also be implemented as acombination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and amicroprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or moremicroprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration.

The memory 304 may include a cache memory (e.g., a cache memory of theprocessor 302), random access memory (RAM), magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM),read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasableprogrammable read only memory (EPROM), electrically erasableprogrammable read only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, solid state memorydevice, hard disk drives, other forms of volatile and non-volatilememory, or a combination of different types of memory. In an embodiment,the memory 304 includes a non-transitory computer-readable medium. Thememory 304 may store instructions 306. The instructions 306 may includeinstructions that, when executed by the processor 302, cause theprocessor 302 to perform the operations described herein with referenceto the UEs 102 in connection with embodiments of the present disclosure.Instructions 306 may also be referred to as code. The terms“instructions” and “code” should be interpreted broadly to include anytype of computer-readable statement(s). For example, the terms“instructions” and “code” may refer to one or more programs, routines,sub-routines, functions, procedures, etc. “Instructions” and “code” mayinclude a single computer-readable statement or many computer-readablestatements.

The cell selection module 308 may be used for various aspects of thepresent disclosure. For example, the cell selection module 308 may beinvolved in the selection of (and reselection where applicable) pagingand access cells, and in directing the UE 102 to camp on the selectedpaging and access cells. For example, with respect to selecting (orreselecting) a paging cell, the cell selection module 308 may analyze arange of information regarding the candidate cells (e.g., the basestations 104 in whose coverage areas the UE 102 currently resides). Forexample, the UE 102 may measure one or more radio conditions of thedifferent coverage areas, including for example reference signalreceived power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), signalto noise ratio, and/or signal to interference ratio to name just a fewexamples. The UE 102 may also analyze system information about theavailability of paging services received from the different basestations 104 (as provided by the transceiver 310 and via the processor302) of either or both of candidate cells or the current paging cell(where the UE 102 is already camped on a determined paging cell, such asin reselection, as part of a neighbor cell list). In an alternativeembodiment, this may be signaled from the core network 204 via the basestations 104 in a unicast message.

After analyzing the range of information available, the cell selectionmodule 308 then selects a base station 104 as the paging cell. Forexample, according to the example in FIG. 1, UE 102 b selects basestation 104 c as its paging cell based on a combination of factors,which may include system information provided from the base station 104c, measured information, and in embodiments also public land mobilenetwork (PLMN) information together with some or all of the above. Thismay include the size of the coverage area (estimated or reported by thebase station 104 c) as compared to the size of the coverage areas of anyother base stations 104 detected by the UE 102, a reliability measure ofthe different base stations 104 (e.g., as indicated by the measurementssuch as SNR) compared to each other, or some other comparison betweenthe different available base stations 104. This is all compared againstone or more paging service requirements and/or preferences (e.g.,reliability, latency, power, and/or coverage requirements/preferences)that may be stored at the UE 102, for example from one or more servicesat the UE 102 (whether active or inactive). Once the cell selectionmodule 308 has analyzed and selected a base station 104 to serve as thepaging cell (e.g., a cell that meets the paging service requirementsand/or preferences for the one or more services), the cell selectionmodule 308 directs the UE 102 to camp on the selected base station 104while the UE 102 is still in IDLE mode. As a result, the UE 102 maysubsequently receive a paging request from the core network 204 via thepaging cell (the selected base station 104). When the UE 102 moves (inresponse to mobility of the UE 102), the cell selection module 308 mayat times re-evaluate and reselect a paging cell as conditions change.

The cell selection module 308 also analyzes and selects an access cellfor the UE 102. This may occur after a paging cell has been identified,selected, and camped on so that the UE 102 is able to receiving pagingrequests thereafter. In an embodiment, the UE 102 engages in access cellselection in response to an indication from the paging cell (or pagingcell candidates) that the network in question supports paging cellcamping and access cell separation. Access cell selection by the cellselection module 308 may be triggered by any one of the UE 102 campingon a new paging cell, a change in some related information for thecurrently selected access cell, and the currently selected access cellbecoming unavailable (e.g., the UE 102 leaving a coverage area of theaccess cell's base station 104 or the base station 104 becomingcongested).

Separate from, or together with, the rest of the access cell selectionprocess, the cell selection module 308 may analyze the selected pagingcell to determine whether the paging cell is also suitable for use as anaccess cell for the UE 102. This analysis may be accomplished bycomparing the measured and/or reported characteristics of the selectedpaging cell with one or more determined or listed requirements and/orpreferences (e.g., access service requirements including, for example,throughput, latency, reliability, and/or cost requirements/preferences)of a service for which the UE 102 may use an access cell in which tocomplete the service (that involves the uplink and/or downlinktransmission of data between the UE 102 and the core network 204). Someexamples of services include conversational, streaming, interactive,background class, and industrial automation services. These areexemplary only and should not be considered a comprehensive list ofpossible services which the UE 102 may seek to obtain in response to aservice request, such as by a user.

In an embodiment, the UE 102 may store a list of services that areavailable to the UE 102 (e.g., pre-programmed in the UE 102, indicatedby a user of UE 102, or a list of programs that may require servicesinstalled in the UE 102 to name some examples). The characteristics ofthe paging cell (and of any candidate cells as discussed below) may beincluded in one or more of system information, neighbor cell lists, andaccess cell lists sent from a base station 104. Where there are multipleservices available to the UE 102 (e.g., the UE 102 may be required toaccess/use any of them at a given time), the cell selection module 308rank the available services according to some metric (e.g., frequency ofuse, stored ranking, most recently used, etc.) against each other andperform the analysis against the characteristics of the available cells.Alternatively, the cell selection module 308 may compare thecharacteristics of the available cells against all of the availableservices and select the cell for access that results in the best overallresult (e.g., highest numerical comparison result). Where there aremultiple services available, and the UE 102 selects an access cell basedon an anticipated service, but another service is then requested orotherwise needs to activate, the cell selection module 308 mayreconsider the selected access cell in case there is another candidatecell more suitable for the particular needs of the requested service. Inan embodiment, a service has already become active at the UE 102 andtherefore the cell selection module 308 compares the characteristics ofthe available cells against the requirements/preferences of the activeservice.

Returning specifically to the consideration of the paging cell, if thecell selection module 308 determines that the paging cell is alsosuitable for the services requested (e.g., an active service or expectedto be requested from inactive service(s)), the cell selection module 308may select the paging cell as the access cell as well, in which case thecell may be simply referred to as the selected service cell. Often,however, it is possible that the cell selection module 308 willdetermine after analysis that the paging cell is not suitable as anaccess cell for the anticipated service(s). As a result, the cellselection module 308 further analyzes one or more characteristics of theother base stations 104 in whose coverage area the UE 102 currentlyresides. As will be recognized, this may be the same list of basestations 104 as was considered for paging cell selection or may bedifferent due to the change of some condition (such as the position ofthe UE 102 before access cell selection begins). The UE 102 may againmeasure one or more radio conditions of the different coverage areas ofthe candidate cells, including for example RSRP, RSRQ, signal to noiseratio, and/or signal to interference ratio to name just a few examples.

For example, the UE 102 may search an access cell list provided by thenetwork, e.g. by the S-GW 208 and/or the MME 206 of the core network 204in FIG. 2, as part of system information or a unicast message. Theaccess cell list may include, with the list of access cells, one or moreof the following parameters for each access cell: frequency information(e.g., UARFCN), cell identity/zone identity, services available at theaccess cell, and congestion status/access control information. Withrespect to the congestion status/access control information, becausethis information can be quite dynamic in terms of frequency of update,in some embodiments it may not be included in the system information ofthe paging cell but instead acquired by the UE 102 from an access celldirectly when the UE 102 attempts to access the access cell.

The cell selection module 308 analyzes information regarding thecandidate cells (e.g. the base stations 104 in whose coverage areas 110the UE 102 currently resides) pertinent to one or more servicesassociated with the type of connection to be established upon request orneed. For example, the cell selection module 308 may comparecharacteristics of the service it needs to utilize (or anticipatesneeding) against one or more parameters of the available cells, such asthose listed above including one or more measurements of the candidates,for any of the available services as discussed above. The cell selectionmodule 308 may determine which access cell has the highest fit with therequirements and/or characteristics of the required service and make itsselection based on this fit. For example, the cell selection module 308may assign a numerical weight to each parameter used in a comparisonbetween available cells and the characteristics of the required service,and select the cell with the highest total score. Alternatively, where agiven parameter is deemed most important, the result of the comparisonfor that parameter may take precedence over any other parameters, evenwhere a different cell would otherwise be selected.

In an embodiment, the information analyzed by the cell selection module308 also includes access control information provided by the corenetwork 204. For example, the access control information may includebarring information. Barring information assigns a barring rate for eachpotential access cell in the access cell list (or, alternatively, foreach frequency or frequency band). The cell selection module 308 maytake this access control information, for example the barring rate, andcompare the barring rate to a random number that the cell selectionmodule 308 draws for the UE 102 b when initiating an access attempt tothe core network 204 via a base station 104. The barring rate may be,for example, one of a fixed number of mobile populations, such as accessclasses 0 to 9, to which each UE 102 is randomly allocated. UEs 102 mayalso be assigned to one or more special categories which enjoy a higherpriority than the fixed number of mobile populations.

Where access control information is included, the comparison may bebetween the barring rate for the UE 102 and a random number uniformlydistributed in the range of greater than or equal to zero and less thanone. If the random number is less than the barring rate, then access tothe given cell is not barred. Otherwise, access to the cell isbarred—the UE 102 will have to select a different cell for access(until, for example, a timer that starts when barred expires). If accessis not barred based on the barring rate, then the cell selection module308 may still base the determination on one or more of the otherparameters discussed above.

After analyzing the parameters (including measurement comparisons andaccess control information, where included), the cell selection module308 then selects a base station 104 as the access cell. For example,according to the example in FIG. 1, UE 102 b selects base station 104 eas its access cell based on a combination of factors, which may includethe parameters provided with an access cell list compared against thecharacteristics of the required service (whether active or inactive atthe time). Once the cell selection module 308 has analyzed and selecteda base station 104 to serve as the access cell, the cell selectionmodule 308 directs the UE 102 to camp on the selected base station 104while the UE 102 is still in IDLE mode. As noted previously, this mayoccur before any data must be sent or requested (e.g., where low latencyis required), or at the time when data is required or must be sent(e.g., where high latency is tolerable).

The cell selection module 308 may either engage in access cell selectionjust after paging cell selection, or may wait to perform access cellselection until actual data transmission becomes necessary (for example,a paging request is received or data arises that needs to be sent fromthe UE 102 to some other entity via the core network 204). The time atwhich to make the selection may depend upon the requirements of a givenservice; for example, a service that requires a low level of latency maycause the cell selection module 308 to perform access cell selection nowinstead of later, so that the UE 102 is camped on a selected access cellprior to any need for data transmission actually arises. As anotherexample, a service for the UE 102 that has a high latency tolerance, thecell selection module 308 may wait in selecting an access cell until aneed for data transmission actually occurs, such as with the arrival ofa page from the base station 104 selected as the paging cell.

Embodiments of the present disclosure may also be utilized to speed upthe configuration of dual connectivity or carrier aggregation for aconnection between the UE 102 and the base station 104. This can beuseful because a significant contributing factor to the delay inconfiguring dual connectivity or carrier aggregation is often the delayimposed in obtaining measured results of the small cells in which dualconnectivity or carrier aggregation may occur.

The UE 102 may perform paging cell selection/reselection as generallydescribed above. Once the UE 102 is camped on a selected paging cell,the UE 102 may check whether any access cell information is available inthe system information of the paging cell on which the UE 102 is camped.In some embodiments, measurement configuration parameters may also bepresent as part of the access cell information. The UE 102 may performmeasurements of the access cell candidates (e.g., the access cellsprovided in a list). The measurements may include those described above,for example specifically RSRP and/or RSRQ. The results of thesemeasurements may be reported to the core network 204 when a connection(e.g., a radio resource control (RRC) connection) is established withthe selected access cell (e.g., base station 104 e). The measurementresults may be sent via a MeasurementReport message after a connectionwith an access cell is established. In an alternative embodiment, themeasurement results may be piggy-backed with another message such as acompletion message (e.g., RRC Connection Setup Complete) via theselected paging cell.

By taking the measurements of access cell candidates before a connectionis established, and reporting those measurements at the time that theconnection is established (or after), a dual connectivity or carrieraggregation configuration may be established faster than isconventionally achieved since the measurement no longer occurs after theconnection is established.

As shown, the transceiver 310 may include the modem subsystem 312 andthe radio frequency (RF) unit 314. The transceiver 310 can be configuredto communicate bi-directionally with other devices, such as basestations 104. The modem subsystem 312 may be configured to modulateand/or encode the data from the cell selection module 308 and otheraspects of the UE 102, such as processor 302 and/or memory 304,according to a modulation and coding scheme (MCS), e.g., a low-densityparity check (LDPC) coding scheme, a turbo coding scheme, aconvolutional coding scheme, etc. The RF unit 314 may be configured toprocess (e.g., perform analog to digital conversion or digital to analogconversion, etc.) modulated/encoded data from the modem subsystem 312(on outbound transmissions) or of transmissions originating from anothersource such as a base station 104. Although shown as integrated togetherin transceiver 310, the modem subsystem 312 and the RF unit 314 may beseparate devices that are coupled together at the UE 102 to enable theUE 102 to communicate with other devices.

The RF unit 314 may provide the modulated and/or processed data, e.g.data packets (or, more generally, data messages that may contain one ormore data packets and other information), to the antenna 316 fortransmission to one or more other devices. This may include, forexample, transmission of information to complete attachment to anetwork, to camp on a paging network, and camp on an access networkaccording to embodiments of the present disclosure. The antenna 316 mayfurther receive data messages transmitted from other devices and providethe received data messages for processing and/or demodulation at thetransceiver 310. Although FIG. 3 illustrates antenna 316 as a singleantenna, antenna 316 may include multiple antennas of similar ordifferent designs in order to sustain multiple transmission links.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an exemplary wireless communication device400 according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The wirelesscommunication device 400 may be a base station having any one of manyconfigurations described above. For purposes of example, wirelesscommunication device 400 may be a base station 104 as discussed abovewith respect to FIGS. 1 and 2. The base station 104 may include aprocessor 402, a memory 404, a cell selection module 408, a transceiver410 (including a modem 412 and RF unit 414), and an antenna 416. Theseelements may be in direct or indirect communication with each other, forexample via one or more buses.

The processor 402 may have various features as a specific-typeprocessor. For example, these may include a CPU, a DSP, an ASIC, acontroller, a FPGA device, another hardware device, a firmware device,or any combination thereof configured to perform the operationsdescribed herein with reference to the base stations 104 introduced inFIG. 1 above. The processor 402 may also be implemented as a combinationof computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor,a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors inconjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

The memory 404 may include a cache memory (e.g., a cache memory of theprocessor 302), RAM, MRAM, ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, asolid state memory device, one or more hard disk drives, memristor-basedarrays, other forms of volatile and non-volatile memory, or acombination of different types of memory. In some embodiments, thememory 404 may include a non-transitory computer-readable medium. Thememory 404 may store instructions 406. The instructions 406 may includeinstructions that, when executed by the processor 402, cause theprocessor 402 to perform operations described herein with reference to abase station 104 in connection with embodiments of the presentdisclosure. Instructions 406 may also be referred to as code, which maybe interpreted broadly to include any type of computer-readablestatement(s) as discussed above with respect to FIG. 3.

The cell selection module 408 may be used for various aspects of thepresent disclosure. For example, the cell selection module 408 may beinvolved in communicating with a UE 102 to provide information the UE102 then uses to select a paging cell and an access cell. The cellselection module 408 may access system information about the basestation 104 (and its corresponding coverage area 110) and instruct thetransceiver 410 of the base station 104 to transmit the accessed systeminformation. The UE 102 may then use this system information asdescribed above to determine whether to select the base station 104 as apaging cell. In an alternative embodiment, the cell selection module 408may cause the base station 104 to forward the system information fromthe core network 204 via the base station 104, for example in a unicastmessage.

In assisting with access cell selection, the cell selection module 408may provide an indication to the UE 102 that the network in questionsupports paging cell camping and access cell separation. This may bestored in the memory 404 or, alternatively, the cell selection module408 may cause the base station 104 to forward this information from thecore network 204. The cell selection module 408 may further cause thebase station 104 to forward an access cell list provided by the network,e.g. by the S-GW 208 and/or the MME 206 of the core network 204 in FIG.2, as part of system information or a unicast message. This access celllist may include congestion status and/or access control information,for example as discussed above with respect to FIG. 3.

As shown, the transceiver 410 may include the modem subsystem 412 andthe radio frequency (RF) unit 414. The transceiver 410 can be configuredto communicate bi-directionally with other devices, such as UE 102and/or another core network element. The modem subsystem 412 may beconfigured to modulate and/or encode data according to a MCS, e.g., aLDPC coding scheme, a turbo coding scheme, a convolutional codingscheme, etc. The RF unit 414 may be configured to process (e.g., performanalog to digital conversion or digital to analog conversion, etc.)modulated/encoded data from the modem subsystem 412 (on outboundtransmissions) or of transmissions originating from another source suchas a UE 102. Although shown as integrated together in transceiver 410,the modem subsystem 412 and the RF unit 414 may be separate devices thatare coupled together at the base station 104 to enable the base station104 to communicate with other devices.

The RF unit 414 may provide the modulated and/or processed data, e.g.data packets (or, more generally, data messages that may contain one ormore data packets and other information), to the antenna 416 fortransmission to one or more other devices. This may include, forexample, transmission of information to complete attachment to a networkand communication with a camped UE 102 according to embodiments of thepresent disclosure. The antenna 416 may further receive data messagestransmitted from other devices and provide the received data messagesfor processing and/or demodulation at the transceiver 410. Although FIG.4 illustrates antenna 416 as a single antenna, antenna 416 may includemultiple antennas of similar or different designs in order to sustainmultiple transmission links.

FIG. 5 shows a block diagram illustrating communication between twowireless communication devices of a MIMO system 500 in accordance withthe present disclosure. For sake of clarity in explanation, a basestation 104 and a UE 102 are shown. However, it is understood that thefollowing description is applicable to communication between any twowireless communication devices in accordance with the presentdisclosure. Further, the following discussion will focus on thoseaspects pertinent to the present disclosure; as will be recognized, theelements of FIG. 5 may be further used for other purposes.

At the base station 104, a transmit processor 520 may receive data froma data source 510 and control information from a controller/processor540. The data rate, coding, and modulation for each data stream may bedetermined by instructions performed by processor 530. The data may bedata from a S-GW 208 and the control information may be a paging requestfrom MME 206, to name some examples. The transmit processor 520 mayprocess (e.g., encode and symbol map) the data and control informationto obtain data symbols and control symbols, respectively. This mayinclude, for example, symbol mapping based on a particular modulationscheme (e.g., BPSK, QSPK, M-PSK, or M-QAM). A transmit (TX)multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 530 may perform spatialprocessing (e.g., precoding) on the data symbols, the control symbols,and/or the reference symbols, if applicable, and may provide outputsymbol streams to the modulators (MODs) 532 a through 532 t.

Each modulator 532 may process a respective output symbol stream (e.g.,for OFDM, etc.) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator 532may further process (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, andupconvert) the output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal.Downlink signals from modulators 532 a through 532 t may be transmittedvia antennas 534 a through 534 t, respectively. Embodiments of thepresent disclosure include having only one antenna or having multipleantennas (at one or both of base station 104 and UE 102).

At the UE 102, antennas 552 a through 552 r may receive the downlinksignals from the base station 104 and may provide received signals tothe demodulators (DEMODs) 554 a through 554 r, respectively. Eachdemodulator 554 may condition (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert, anddigitize) a respective received signal to obtain input samples. Eachdemodulator 554 may further process the input samples (e.g., for OFDM,etc.) to obtain received symbols. A MIMO detector 556 may obtainreceived symbols from all the demodulators 554 a through 554 r, performMIMO detection on the received symbols if applicable, and providedetected symbols. A receive processor 558 may process (e.g., demodulate,deinterleave, and decode) the detected symbols, provide decoded data forthe UE 102, and provide decoded control information to acontroller/processor 580.

On the uplink, at the UE 102, a transmit processor 564 may receive andprocess data from a data source 562 and control information from thecontroller/processor 580. The data may include data transmitted as partof a service (e.g., to a base station 104 that is an access cell) andthe control information may include attach information and/or connectionsetup or paging response information (e.g., to a base station that is apaging cell). The transmit processor 564 may also generate referencesymbols for a reference signal.

The symbols from the transmit processor 564 may be precoded by a TX MIMOprocessor 566 if applicable, further processed by the modulators 554 athrough 554 r (e.g., for SC-FDM, etc.), and transmitted to the basestation 104. At the base station 104, the uplink signals from the UE 102may be received by the antennas 534, processed by the demodulators 532,detected by a MIMO detector 536, if applicable, and further processed bya receive processor 538 to obtain decoded data and control informationsent by the UE 102. The processor 538 may provide the decoded data to adata sink and the decoded control information to thecontroller/processor 540.

The controllers/processors 540 and 580 may direct the operation at thebase station 104 and the UE 102, respectively. The controller/processor540 and/or other processors and modules at the base station 104 mayperform or direct the execution of various processes for the techniquesdescribed herein, including paging and/or access cell operations asdescribed with respect to other figures in the present disclosure. Thecontrollers/processor 580 and/or other processors and modules at the UE102 may also perform or direct the execution of the various processesfor the techniques described herein, including identifying cells onwhich to camp (paging and access), selecting those cells, camping onthose cells, and entering connected mode as described in thisdisclosure.

In this regard, the memories 542 and 582 may store data and programcodes for the base station 104 and the UE 102, respectively, to performor direct the execution of these various processes (for example asdescribed above with respect to FIGS. 3 and 4). A scheduler 544 mayschedule wireless communication devices for data transmission on thedownlink and/or uplink.

Referring now to FIG. 6, shown is a protocol diagram illustratingexemplary signaling aspects between a UE 601, a paging cell 607 (and eNB609 of paging cell 607), an access cell 603 (and eNB 605 of access cell603), and core network 611 in accordance with various aspects of thepresent disclosure. The UE 601 may be, for example, an instance of UE102, and the eNBs 605 and 609 may be instances of base stations 104(such as base stations 104 e and 104 c, respectively). In particular,FIG. 6 illustrates an embodiment in which call setup occurs in a mobiletermination scenario (e.g., the call is instigated by a page from thecore network 611, instead of originating by the UE 601).

At action 602, the UE 601 attaches to the core network 611. This mayinclude, as will be recognized, transmission of an attach request fromthe UE 601 to the core network 611 via one of the UEs 605/609,generation of an authentication vector by the core network 611, anauthentication response by the core network 611 to the eNB 605/609through which the UE 601 is attempting to attach, and mutualauthentication between the UE 601 and the eNB 605/609. After attachingto the core network 611, the UE 601 may enter IDLE mode when there is nodata to transmit or receive.

At action 604, the paging cell 607 sends system information to the UE601 if the UE 601 has not yet acquired the system information from thepaging cell 607. Alternatively, if the UE 601 has previouslyacquired/received the system information, the UE 601 may retrieve thesystem information of the paging cell 607 from internal memory (e.g., ifthe UE 601 stored it previously and/or the system information is stillvalid for the paging cell 607). This system information may be of acandidate cell to which the UE 601 is considering camping on, or of acell on which the UE 601 is already camped on (in which case it mayinclude a neighbor cell list). In an embodiment, the system informationincludes an access cell list which the UE 601 may subsequently also usein selecting an access cell. The UE 601 checks the radio conditions ofthe paging cell 607 to determine if it is suitable to serve as a pagingcell. The UE 601 also checks the paging service availability of thepaging cell 607 (as provided by the system information) to confirm thatthe cell supports paging service.

At action 606, the UE 601 selects the cell that supports paging serviceand which meets any other selection criteria, such as discussed abovewith respect to FIG. 3, and camps on the selected paging cell 607 (whilethe UE 601 is still in IDLE mode).

At action 608, as the UE 601 is in IDLE mode and camped on the pagingcell 607, the UE 601 may measure and evaluate the candidate accesscells. For example, the UE 601 may decide which cells to measure andevaluate based on the access cell list received (or accessed) at action604 (as part of the system information from the paging cell 607). Themeasurement and evaluation may include the paging cell 607 as well asany other cells in whose coverage areas the UE 601 currently resides.The access cell list may include a list of access cells and differentparameters of each cell, for example frequency information, cellidentity/zone identity, services available at the cell, and congestionstatus (and/or access control information). In an embodiment, the UE 601may obtain relatively static aspects of the information from a neighborlist of the system information from the paging cell 607 (e.g., frequencyinformation, cell identity, zone identity, and service availabilityinformation that indicates support statuses of the services for eachneighbor cell/zone). Further, the UE 601 may filter this list to filterout irrelevant cells from the candidate list. After this filtering, theUE 601 may then obtain relatively dynamic information (such as servingavailability information indicating whether the service is actuallyavailable at the particular access cell candidate, as well as congestionstatus and access control information) from the system information ofthe access cell 603 (e.g., as the UE 601 evaluates the access cellselection criteria). The UE 601 compares the measurement results and/orthe information obtained in the system information (whether from justthe paging cell 607 or also one or more access cells) against theservices required to determine a best fit for the service, and thenselects access cell 603 in response to the comparison, for example whilestill in IDLE mode.

At action 610, the core network 611 sends a paging signal, also referredto as a paging message, to the eNB 609 of the paging cell 607 on whichthe UE 601 is currently camped on in IDLE mode (for example, via an S1-MME connection from an MME in the core network 611). The eNB 609, inturn, transmits the paging signal on to the UE 601. In an embodiment,the paging message includes service information about the type of callthat is sought to be established.

At action 612, the UE 601 transitions to connected mode in response tothe paging signal and initiates a random access procedure with the eNB605 of the selected access cell 603. This may include, for example, theUE 601 initiating a session with the eNB 605 using a random accesspreamble. The eNB 605 generates a random access response that caninclude assignment of a cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI)that will be used to address the UE 601, a timing advance that mayadjust the UE 601 transmitter timing (e.g., to synchronize the UEtransmitter to the eNB's timing window), and also may include uplinkresource assignment.

At action 614, the UE 601 may send a connection request to the eNB 605of the selected access cell 603. For example, the UE 601 sends a RRCconnection request to the eNB 605 after the random access procedurecompletes. The UE 601 identifies itself in the RRC connection requestwith either the UE identity (such as S-Temoporary Mobile SubscriberIdentity (S-TMSI), which is a shortened form of Global Unique TemporaryIdentity (GUTI)) or a random number selected by the UE 601. The RRCconnection request may also identify the establishment cause, forexample here mobile terminated signaling.

At action 616, the eNB 605 responds to the RRC connection request with aconnection setup message that it transmits to the UE 601, such as a RRCconnection setup message, and the UE 601 identifies the RRCE connectionsetup message from the eNB 605 with the UE identity (or random number)that had been included in the connection request message at action 614.The RRC connection setup message may include an identification of thesignaling radio bearer as well as various configuration parameters. Forexample, this may include radio link control (RLC) uplink configuration(such as a timer for status report polling, a number of retransmissionsof buffer status report, a control plane retransmission limit to name afew examples), RLC downlink configuration (such as a maximum wait timefor packet reordering), and uplink shared channel (UL-SCH) configuration(such as a maximum number of hybrid automatic repeat request (ARQ)transmissions and periodic/regular buffer status report timer). The RRCconnection setup message may also include power headroom report (PHR)configuration (including a periodicity of the PHR, for example), anduplink power control parameters (including values used to determine anominal power of uplink transmissions, one or more values used todetermine an uplink sounding reference signal power, and values used incalculating path loss).

At action 618, the UE 601 sends a setup complete message, such as a RRCconnection setup complete message, in response to receiving theconnection setup message at action 616. The UE 601 may include as partof the setup complete message UE-specific NAS layer information. Thesetup complete message may also include a NAS message indicating that itis a paging response to the paging signal received so that the corenetwork 611 may handle the call flow correctly.

At action 620, the eNB 605 takes the information from the setup completemessage and sends a paging response to the core network 611. Forexample, the eNB 605 takes the information in the NAS message thatindicating this was a paging response and sends the paging responsemessage based on that information (which may be received, e.g., by theMME 206 of FIG. 2).

At action 622, in response to the paging response, the core network 611establishes a connection between the eNB 605 of the access cell 603(which the UE 601 had selected for access) and the core network 611(e.g., the S-GW 208 of FIG. 2).

At action 624, the eNB 605 proceeds with establishing a connection(e.g., a RRC connection) between the eNB 605 of the selected access cell603 and the UE 601, and the call proceeds.

While FIG. 6 illustrated signaling aspects for a mobile terminated call,FIG. 7 is a protocol diagram illustrating exemplary signaling aspects ofa mobile originated call setup between a UE 701, a paging cell 707 (andeNB 709 of paging cell 707), an access cell 703 (and eNB 705 of accesscell 703), and core network 711 in accordance with various aspects ofthe present disclosure. The UE 701 may be, for example, an instance ofUE 102, and the eNBs 705 and 709 may be instances of base stations 104(such as base stations 104 e and 104 c, respectively).

At action 702, the UE 701 attaches to the core network 711, for exampleas described above with respect to action 602 of FIG. 6.

At action 704, the UE 701 obtains the system information of the pagingcell 707, for example as described above with respect to action 604 ofFIG. 6.

At action 706, the UE 701 selects the cell that supports paging serviceand which meets any other selection criteria, such as discussed abovewith respect to FIG. 3, and camps on the selected paging cell 707 (whilethe UE 701 is still in IDLE mode).

At action 708, as the UE 701 is in IDLE mode and camped on the pagingcell 707, the UE 701 may measure and evaluate the candidate accesscells, for example as described above with respect to action 608 of FIG.6.

At action 710, an upper layer at the UE 701 requests the establishmentof a connection with the eNB 705 (of the access cell 703) and, thereby,the core network 711. Thus, FIG. 7 illustrates call setup signaling fora mobile originated call (e.g., the UE 701 has data it seeks to transmiton its own accord, not in response to a request/paging signal from thecore network 711).

At action 712, the UE 701 transitions to connected mode in response toupper layer request and initiates a random access procedure with the eNB705 of the selected access cell 703, for example as described above withrespect to action 612 of FIG. 6.

Actions 714, 716, 718, 720, 722, and 724 may be similar as actions 614,616, 618, 620, 622, and 624, respectively, described above with respectto FIG. 6, with the difference that instead of the establishment clausein the RRC connection request identifying mobile terminated signaling,it may identify mobile originated signaling. Further, as part of thesetup complete message at action 718, the UE 701 may include UE-specificNAS layer information, including a NAS message indicating that it is aservice request for the core network 711.

As mentioned above with respect to FIG. 3, embodiments of the presentdisclosure may speed up the establishment of dual connectivity orcarrier aggregation. FIG. 8 is a protocol diagram illustrating exemplarysignaling aspects between a UE 801, serving cell 805 (and eNB 807 ofserving cell 805), and core network 809 in accordance with variousaspects of the present disclosure. The UE 801 may be, for example, aninstance of UE 102, and the eNB 807 may be an instance of a base station104. As illustrated in FIG. 8, the UE 801 has selected the same cell tobe the paging cell and access cell (referred to as a serving cell). Aswill be recognized, the aspects described in FIG. 8 are also applicableto embodiments where the UE 801 selects different cells to function aspaging and access cells.

At action 802, the UE 801 attaches to the core network 811, for exampleas described above with respect to action 602 of FIG. 6.

At action 804, the UE 801 obtains the system information of the servingcell 805, for example as described above with respect to action 604 ofFIG. 6 with respect to the paging cell 607.

At action 806, the UE 801 selects the cell that supports paging serviceand which meets any other selection criteria, such as discussed abovewith respect to FIG. 3, and camps on the selected serving cell 805(while the UE 801 is still in IDLE mode).

At action 808, as the UE 801 is in IDLE mode and camped on the servingcell 805, the UE 801 may measure and evaluate the candidate access cellsidentified in the access cell list, for example as described above withrespect to action 608 of FIG. 6. In FIG. 8, the UE 801 selects the eNB807 to operate as the access cell as well as the paging cell.Measurement and evaluation are still applicable, however, as duringreselection procedures that may change.

At action 810, an upper layer at the UE 801 requests the establishmentof a connection with the eNB 807 and, thereby, the core network 811.Thus, FIG. 8 also illustrates call setup signaling for a mobileoriginated call, as in FIG. 7. As will be recognized, embodiments wherethe call setup signaling is for a mobile terminated call, as in FIG. 6,are also applicable.

Actions 812, 814, 816, 818, 820, 822, and 824 are similar to actions712, 714, 716, 718, 720, 722, and 724, respectively, described abovewith respect to FIG. 7 (and, thus, similar as identified to the actionsin FIG. 6), with the difference that as part of the setup completemessage 818, the UE 801 also includes measured results. For example, theUE 801 may have performed RSRP and RSRQ measurements as part of action808 and may include these results with the setup complete message ataction 818. Alternatively, the UE 801 may send the measurement resultsby MeasurementReport message. The eNB 807 may in turn forward on themeasurement results to the core network 811 for use in establishing dualconnectivity or carrier aggregation, alternatively may use the resultsto determine cells for dual connectivity or carrier aggregation.

At action 826, the core network 811 transmits a context request, such asan activate default EPS bearer context request, to the serving eNB 807.This may originate, for example, from an MME in the core network 811.The context request may include, for example, an EPS bearer ID (whichidentifies the bearer that needs to be activated), EPS quality ofservice information (e.g., maximum bit rate for the bearer, a guaranteedbit rate for the bearer, etc.), an access point name, and an assignedPDN IP address.

At action 828, the eNB 807 extracts this information from the contextrequest message. In an embodiment, eNB 807 may access the EPS quality ofservice information and identify that the level of the quality ofservice should be met by establishing carrier aggregation or dualconnectivity. The eNB 807 compiles the extracted information andforwards aspects of it on to the UE 801 as part of a connectionreconfiguration message, for example a RRC connection reconfigurationmessage. For example, eNB 807 may take the bearer configurationinformation received as part of the context request message from thecore network 811 or as locally determined. The eNB 807 may alsodetermine additional information, including dual connectivity (orcarrier aggregation) configuration information (e.g., from adetermination based on the quality of service information received),including a RACH preamble assignment for the additional access cell, aC-RNTI, target DRB ID (UL/DL), and target AS security algorithm for thesecondary cell that will be providing dual connectivity (or carrieraggregation). The eNB 807 sends the RRC Connection Reconfigurationmessage, including the EPS bearer configuration from the core network811 and the dual connectivity configuration information.

At action 830, the UE 801 establishes dual connectivity (or carrieraggregation) with the identified cells (including the serving cell 805and one or more other access cells, e.g. from the access cell list asdetermined by the core network 811 or eNB 807 based on the measurementresults sent as part of action 818) based on the information included inthe connection reconfiguration request received at action 828.

At action 832, the UE 801 uses the assigned resources (e.g., the servicecell 805 resources, the dual connectivity resources, or carrieraggregation resources) to transmit a connection reconfiguration completemessage back to the serving cell 805, for example a RRC ConnectionReconfiguration Complete message.

Referring now to FIG. 9, shown therein is a flowchart illustrating amethod 900 for wireless communication according to aspects of thepresent disclosure. In particular, the method 900 illustrates theselection of paging and access cells according to embodiments of thepresent disclosure. Method 900 may be implemented in the UE 102. It isunderstood that additional steps can be provided before, during, andafter the steps of method 900, and that some of the steps described canbe replaced or eliminated from the method 900.

At block 902, the UE 102 performs a paging cell selection operation.This may include, for example, the UE 102 (such as via the cellselection module 308 discussed for FIG. 3) analyzing a range ofinformation regarding candidate cells (e.g., the base stations 104 inwhose coverage areas the UE 102 currently resides). For example, the UE102 may measure one or more radio conditions of the different coverageareas, analyze system information about the availability of pagingservices received from the different base stations 104 (e.g., comparethe system information against paging service requirements, such aspertaining to reliability measures, latency measures, coverage area,signal strength, etc.), and select a base station 104 as the pagingcell. The UE 102 then camps on the selected paging cell, e.g. whilestill in IDLE mode.

At decision block 904, the UE 102 determines whether a paging cell hasbeen found (and selected). If not, then the method 900 returns to block902 to search for and select a paging cell. If a paging cell has beenfound, the method 900 instead proceeds to decision block 906.

At decision block 906, the UE 102 analyzes the selected paging cell todetermine whether it is also suitable to serve as the access cell forthe UE 102, for example for one or more specified services. For example,the UE 102 may compare measured and/or reported (e.g., in a systeminformation message from the paging cell) characteristics of theselected paging cell with one or more determined or listed requirementsof a service (access service requirements, such as throughput levels,latency measures, reliability measures, and cost estimates) that the UE102 requires an access cell in which to complete the service, forexample as described above with respect to FIG. 3.

If the UE 102 determines that the paging cell is also suitable to serveas the access cell, then the method 900 proceeds to block 908 with theselected paging cell now referred to as a serving cell (since it isselected for both paging and access).

At block 908, the UE 102 measures and evaluates the serving cell whilestill in IDLE mode. This may involve, for example, any one or more ofthe measurements described above with respect to FIG. 3.

Decision block 910 takes the results from block 908 and determineswhether the serving cell satisfies cell selection criteria (e.g.,whether the serving cell meets the criteria for paging service andaccess service). This may occur, for example, occasionally as the UE 102is mobile. If not, the method 900 returns to block 902 for paging cellselection. If so, the method 900 proceeds to decision block 912.

At decision block 912, if the UE 102 has moved or the connectivityenvironment around the UE 102 has otherwise changed, cell reselectionmay be in order. If cell reselection occurs, then the method 900 returnsto decision block 904 and proceeds from there. If cell reselection doesnot occur, then the method 900 proceeds to decision block 914.

At decision block 914, the UE 102 determines whether a connectionestablishment request has been received. This may be either mobileterminated (e.g., a paging message as in FIG. 6) or mobile originated(e.g., a connection request as in FIG. 7). If a connection establishmentrequest has not been received, then the method 900 proceeds back toblock 908 and proceeds accordingly. If a connection establishment hasbeen received, the UE 102 transitions to connection mode from IDLE modeand the method 900 proceeds to block 916.

At block 916, the UE 102 establishes a connection with the servingcell's base station, for example as described with respect to FIG. 6 orFIG. 7. The UE 102 maintains the connection for a duration of when datais transmitted and/or received according to a specific service that theUE 102 is using.

Once the needs of the service have been met, e.g. all necessary has beentransmitted and/or received, at block 918 the UE 102 releases theconnection with the base station, the UE 102 transitions again to IDLEmode, and the method 900 returns to block 902 so that the UE 102 mayagain select a cell as a paging cell on which to camp.

Returning to decision block 906, if the UE 102 instead determines thatthe paging cell is not suitable to also serve as the access cell, thenthe method 900 proceeds to decision block 920.

At decision block 920, the UE 102 determines whether the service needsaccess cell selection at the current time (e.g., while still IDLE withno data to send or paging message received). The service that the UE 102may need to later engage in, or which the UE 102 has been tasked with,may have a certain range of characteristics, including a level oflatency that is tolerable. For example, if the service can tolerate ahigh level of latency (e.g., a specified threshold amount), then the UE102 may not need to camp on an access cell before transmission becomesnecessary. Otherwise, the UE 102 may camp on an access cell so as toreduce the latency of transmission/reception where low latency isrequired for the service. Thus, if low latency is not required then themethod 900 may proceed to block 922 from decision block 920.

At block 922, the UE 102 measures and evaluates the paging cell whilestill in IDLE mode. This may involve, for example, any one or more ofthe measurements described above with respect to FIG. 3.

Decision block 924 takes the results from block 922 and determineswhether the paging cell still satisfies paging cell selection criteria.If not, the method 900 returns to block 902 for paging cell selection.If so, the method 900 proceeds to decision block 926.

At decision block 926, if the UE 102 has moved or the connectivityenvironment around the UE 102 has otherwise changed, paging cellreselection may be in order. If cell reselection occurs, then the method900 returns to decision block 904 and proceeds from there. If cellreselection does not occur, then the method 900 proceeds to decisionblock 928.

At decision block 928, the UE 102 determines whether a connectionestablishment request has been received. This may be either mobileterminated (e.g., a paging message as in FIG. 6) or mobile originated(e.g., a connection request as in FIG. 7). If a connection establishmentrequest has not been received, then the method 900 proceeds back toblock 922 and proceeds accordingly. If a connection establishment hasbeen received, the UE 102 transitions to connection mode from IDLE modeand the method 900 proceeds to block 930.

At block 930, the UE 102 performs an access cell selection operation.This may include, for example, the UE 102 (such as via the cellselection module 308 of FIG. 3) analyzing information regarding thecandidate cells (e.g. the base stations 104 in whose coverage areas 110the UE 102 currently resides) pertinent to one or more servicesassociated with the type of connection to be established upon request orneed. The access cell selection operation may include evaluation of anaccess cell list which may include a list of access cells as well as oneor more of the following parameters for each access cell: frequencyinformation (e.g., UARFCN), cell identity/zone identity, servicesavailable at the access cell, and congestion status/access controlinformation. This may include measuring the different candidate accesscells and selecting one cell from the candidates based on themeasurements, received information, and comparison of the same againstservice requirements. The UE 102 then camps on the selected access cell,e.g. while still in IDLE mode and camped on the selected paging cell.

At decision block 932, the UE 102 determines whether it should give upits access cell selection or not. This may occur, for example, where theUE 102 has moved position so that it is no longer within the coveragearea of the selected access cell. As noted above, the size of an accesscell may be smaller than the size of a paging cell given the differentcharacteristics valued for each (geographic reach versus speed/bandwidthof the connection). Thus, the access cell may need to change even whenthe paging cell does not. Here, if at decision block 932 the UE 102determines that the access cell selection should be given up, then themethod 900 returns back to block 922 for measurement, evaluation, andselection of another access cell.

If, instead, the UE 102 determines that the access cell selection shouldnot be given up, then the method 900 proceeds to decision block 934. Atdecision block 934, the UE 102 determines whether an access cell hasbeen found (and selected). If not, then the method 900 returns to block930 to search for and select an access cell. If an access cell has beenfound, the method 900 instead proceeds to block 936.

At block 936, the UE 102 establishes a connection with the access cell'sbase station, for example as described with respect to FIG. 6 or FIG. 7.The UE 102 maintains the connection for a duration of when data istransmitted and/or received according to a specific service that the UE102 is using.

Once the needs of the service have been met, e.g. all necessary has beentransmitted and/or received, at block 938 the UE 102 releases theconnection with the base station, the UE 102 transitions again to IDLEmode, and the method 900 returns to block 902 so that the UE 102 mayagain select a cell as a paging cell on which to camp.

Returning to decision block 920, if low latency is required then themethod 900 may proceed to block 940 so that an access cell may beselected and camped on before the actual need for such arises.

At block 940, the UE 102 performs an access cell selection operation asdescribed above with respect to block 930 and FIG. 3.

At decision block 942, the UE 102 determines whether an access cell hasbeen found (and selected). If not, then the method 900 returns to block940 to search for and select an access cell. If an access cell has beenfound, the method 900 instead proceeds to block 944.

At block 944, the UE 102 measures and evaluates the selected paging celland the selected access cell while still in IDLE mode. This may involve,for example, any one or more of the measurements for either cell (orboth cells) described above with respect to blocks 908 and/or 922, aswell as FIG. 3.

The method 900 proceeds to decision block 946, where the UE 102determines whether the paging cell still satisfies paging cell selectioncriteria, based on the results from block 944. If not, the method 900returns to block 902 for paging cell selection. If so, the method 900proceeds to decision block 948.

At decision block 948, the UE 102 determines whether the access cellstill satisfies the access cell selection criteria, based on the resultsfrom block 944. If not, then the method 900 returns to block 940 foraccess cell selection. If so, then the method 900 proceeds to decisionblock 950.

At decision block 950, if the UE 102 has moved or the connectivityenvironment around the UE 102 has otherwise changed, paging cellreselection may be in order. If paging cell reselection occurs, then themethod 900 returns to decision block 904 and proceeds from there. Ifpaging cell reselection does not occur, then the method 900 proceeds todecision block 952.

At decision block 952, if the UE 102 has moved or the connectivityenvironment around the UE 102 has otherwise changed, access cellreselection may be in order. As noted previously, whether a paging cell(or access cell) requires reselection does not necessary determinewhether the access cell (or paging cell) also requires reselection.Movement of the UE 102 may require only that the access cell bereselected while the paging cell remains the same, for example. Ifaccess cell reselection occurs, then the method 900 returns to decisionblock 942 and proceeds from there. If access cell reselection does notoccur, then the method 900 proceeds to decision block 954.

At decision block 954, the UE 102 determines whether a connectionestablishment request has been received. This may be either mobileterminated (e.g., a paging message as in FIG. 6) or mobile originated(e.g., a connection request as in FIG. 7). If a connection establishmentrequest has not been received, then the method 900 proceeds back toblock 944 and proceeds accordingly. If a connection establishment hasbeen received, the UE 102 transitions to connection mode from IDLE modeand the method 900 proceeds to block 936 and proceeds as describedabove.

Turning now to FIG. 10, shown therein is a flowchart illustrating amethod 1000 for wireless communication according to aspects of thepresent disclosure. In particular, the method 1000 illustrates theinteraction of a network with paging and access cells according toembodiments of the present disclosure. Method 1000 may be implemented byelements of the core network 204 as well as an access network includingone or more base stations 104 (among other network elements). It isunderstood that additional steps can be provided before, during, andafter the steps of method 1000, and that some of the steps described canbe replaced or eliminated from the method 1000.

At block 1002, the network responds to an attach request from a UE 102,as conveyed by a base station, and proceeds with the steps necessary tocomplete an initial attach (e.g., as discussed above with respect toaction 602 of FIG. 6). Thereafter, the UE 102 may select paging andaccess cells and camp on one or both of those, pending a need for aspecific service.

At decision block 1004, if a mobile terminated call setup is sought,then the method 1000 proceeds to block 1006.

At block 1006, the network sends a paging message to the UE 102 via afirst cell. For example, the first cell may be a paging cell that the UE102 has selected and camped on while in IDLE mode. The paging messagemay be sent from MME 206 of the core network 204, for example.

At block 1008, the network receives a paging response from the UE 102via a second cell. For example, the second cell may be an access cellthat the UE 102 had previously selected based on the required service,either in response to the paging message (e.g., where high latency istolerable) or prior to any need. The first and second cells may bedifferent from each other, as described above with respect to the otherfigures.

At block 1010, the network establishes a connection with a base stationof the second cell, for example as discussed above with respect toaction 622 of FIG. 6 (mobile terminated) or action 722/822 of FIGS. 7/8(mobile originated).

Returning to decision block 1004, if a mobile originated call setupoccurs, then the method 1000 proceeds to block 1012.

At block 1012, the network receives a service request from the UE 102via the second cell that the UE 102 selected as access cell. Asmentioned with respect to block 1008, the second cell may be an accesscell that the UE 102 had previously selected based on the requiredservice, either in response to a connection request from an upper layerof the UE 102 (e.g., where high latency is tolerable) or prior to anyconnection request.

From block 1012, the method 1000 proceeds to block 1010 as discussedabove.

Turning now to FIG. 11, shown therein is a flowchart illustrating amethod 1100 for wireless communication according to aspects of thepresent disclosure. In particular, the method 1100 illustrates theinteraction of a network with paging and access cells for carrieraggregation and/or dual connectivity according to embodiments of thepresent disclosure. Method 1100 may be implemented by elements of thecore network 204 as well as an access network including one or more basestations 104 (among other network elements). It is understood thatadditional steps can be provided before, during, and after the steps ofmethod 1100, and that some of the steps described can be replaced oreliminated from the method 1100.

At decision block 1102, the network determines whether measurementinformation was included with a paging response/service request from theUE 102 (and forwarded on by the second cell's base station). This ispertinent in embodiments where the network seeks to establish dualconnectivity or carrier aggregation faster than is currently available(for example, by one or more elements of a radio access network aspectof the network). If measurement information was included, then themethod 1100 proceeds to block 1104.

At block 1104, the network selects one or more additional cells (e.g.,other cells that are available as access cells, and that meet therequirements for the service occurring) for dual connectivity or carrieraggregation. The network then proceeds to establish the dualconnectivity or carrier aggregation with the UE 102, for example asdescribed above with respect to actions 826, 828, 830, and 832 of FIG. 8above.

At block 1106, the network communicates data with the UE 102 via thesecond cell (and additional cell(s) where dual connectivity or carrieraggregation is established), for example transmitting and/or receivingdata according to the requirements of the given service that iscurrently being used by the UE 102.

Returning to decision block 1102, if measurement information was notincluded from the UE 102, then the method 1100 proceeds directly toblock 1106 for communication with the UE 102.

Information and signals may be represented using any of a variety ofdifferent technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions,commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may bereferenced throughout the above description may be represented byvoltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles,optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

The various illustrative blocks and modules described in connection withthe disclosure herein may be implemented or performed with ageneral-purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, an FPGA or other programmablelogic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardwarecomponents, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functionsdescribed herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor,but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor,controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also beimplemented as a combination of computing devices (e.g., a combinationof a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or moremicroprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration).

The functions described herein may be implemented in hardware, softwareexecuted by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. Ifimplemented in software executed by a processor, the functions may bestored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on acomputer-readable medium. Other examples and implementations are withinthe scope of the disclosure and appended claims. For example, due to thenature of software, functions described above can be implemented usingsoftware executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, orcombinations of any of these. Features implementing functions may alsobe physically located at various positions, including being distributedsuch that portions of functions are implemented at different physicallocations.

Also, as used herein, including in the claims, “ or ” as used in a listof items (for example, a list of items prefaced by a phrase such as “atleast one of” or “one or more of”) indicates an inclusive list suchthat, for example, a list of [at least one of A, B, or C] means A or Bor C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C). It is alsocontemplated that the features, components, actions, and/or stepsdescribed with respect to one embodiment may be structured in differentorder than as presented herein and/or combined with the features,components, actions, and/or steps described with respect to otherembodiments of the present disclosure.

Embodiments of the present disclosure include a computer-readable mediumhaving program code recorded thereon, the program code comprising codefor causing a user equipment (UE) to determine a paging servicerequirement and an access service requirement for a service to use incommunication with a network. The program code further comprises codefor causing the UE to select a first cell through which the UE receivespaging service from a base station based on the paging servicerequirement. The program code further comprises code for causing the UEto select a second cell through which the UE obtains the service basedon the access service requirement.

The computer-readable medium further includes wherein the paging servicerequirement comprises an ability to receive a paging message, and thecode for causing the UE to select the first cell further comprising codefor causing the UE to determine whether the first cell is capable ofreceiving the paging service from the network. The computer-readablemedium further includes code for causing the UE to connect to the secondcell for the service in response to a request for network access for theservice. The computer-readable medium further includes code for causingthe UE to determine, as part of the determination of the access servicerequirement, a latency tolerance of the service. The computer-readablemedium further includes code for causing the UE to delay selection ofthe second cell until immediately prior to a connection establishmentattempt between the UE and the network in response to the determinedlatency tolerance being above a threshold. The computer-readable mediumfurther includes code for causing the UE to proceed with the selectionof the second cell while the UE is in an idle mode in response to thedetermined latency tolerance being at or below the threshold. Thecomputer-readable medium further includes code for causing the UE todetermine whether the first cell satisfies the access servicerequirement to support the UE accessing the network via the first cellfor the service. The computer-readable medium further includes whereinthe second cell and the first cell selected are the same in response tothe first cell satisfying the access service requirement, and the secondcell is different from the first cell selected in response to the firstcell not satisfying the access service requirement. Thecomputer-readable medium further includes wherein the code for causingthe UE to determine whether the first cell satisfies the access servicerequirement further comprises code for causing the UE to determine aradio access technology (RAT) type and a frequency of the cell and codefor causing the UE to compare the RAT type and the frequency of the cellwith the access service requirement of the UE. The computer-readablemedium further includes code for causing the UE to select the first cellthrough which to receive the paging service based on a reliability levelof the first cell, the reliability level of the first cell being greaterthan the reliability level of the second cell. The computer-readablemedium further includes code for causing the UE to select the secondcell through which to access the network based on a throughput level ofthe second cell, the throughput level of the second cell being greaterthan the throughput level of the first cell. The computer-readablemedium further includes code for causing the UE to reselect a third cellin place of the second cell through which to access the network based ona change in location of the UE in relation to the second cell. Thecomputer-readable medium further includes code for causing the UE tomaintain the first cell through which the UE receives the paging serviceduring the reselecting. The computer-readable medium further includescode for causing the UE to reselect a third cell in place of the firstcell through which to receive the paging service based on a change inlocation of the UE in relation to the first cell. The computer-readablemedium further includes code for causing the UE to maintain the secondcell through which to access the network during the reselecting. Thecomputer-readable medium further includes code for causing the UE toselect the first cell from a first radio access technology (RAT)network, and code for causing the UE to select the second cell from asecond RAT network, the second RAT network being different from thefirst RAT network. The computer-readable medium further includes codefor causing the UE to measure a characteristic of the second cell priorto selecting the second cell through which to obtain the service fromthe network. The computer-readable medium further includes code forcausing the UE to measure a plurality of cells to obtain measurementinformation about suitability of each of the plurality of cells as anaccess cell for the UE. The computer-readable medium further includescode for causing the UE to send the measurement information to thenetwork during establishment of a connection between the UE and thenetwork via the second cell. The computer-readable medium furtherincludes code for causing the UE to establish, with the network, a dualconnectivity or carrier aggregation connection with the network via thesecond cell and a third cell based on the measurement information sentto the network. The computer-readable medium further includes code forcausing the UE to measure a plurality of cells to obtain measurementinformation about suitability of each of the plurality of cells as anaccess cell for the UE. The computer-readable medium further includescode for causing the UE to send the measurement information to thenetwork after establishment of a connection between the UE and thenetwork via the second cell. The computer-readable medium furtherincludes code for causing the UE to establish, with the network, a dualconnectivity or carrier aggregation connection with the network via thesecond cell and a third cell based on the measurement information sentto the network. The computer-readable medium further includes whereinthe code for causing the UE to select the first cell further comprisescode for causing the UE to receive paging cell information for the firstcell from the network, the paging cell information comprising at leastone of a macro cell indication, cell coverage information, and pagingavailability information, and code for causing the UE to select thefirst cell based on the received paging cell information satisfying thepaging service requirement. The computer-readable medium furtherincludes wherein the code for causing the UE to select the second cellfurther comprises code for causing the UE to receive access controlinformation for the second cell from the network, the access controlinformation comprising at least one of an accessible cell list for theservice and access control information of neighboring cells for theservice, and code for causing the UE to select the second cell based onthe received access control information satisfying the access servicerequirement. The computer-readable medium further includes wherein theaccess control information further comprises barring information thathas a barring rate assigned per cell, frequency, or frequency band, thecode for causing the UE to select the second cell further comprisingcode for causing the UE to compare the barring rate to a random numberdrawn by the UE at an access attempt, and code for causing the UE todetermine whether the UE can select at least one of the cell, frequency,and frequency band to access the network based on the comparing. Thecomputer-readable medium further includes wherein the access controlinformation further comprises barring information that has a barringrate assigned per cell, frequency, or frequency band, the barringinformation being defined per access class or service, the code forcausing the UE to select the second cell further comprising code forcausing the UE to compare a barring rate associated with an access classassigned to the UE or with a service selected by the UE to a randomnumber drawn by the UE at an access attempt, and code for causing the UEto determine whether the UE can select at least one of the cell,frequency, and frequency band to access the network based on thecomparing. The computer-readable medium further includes wherein theservice is active on the UE during the determining and selecting, thepaging service requirement and the access service requirement beingdetermined based on the active service. The computer-readable mediumfurther includes wherein the service is inactive during the determiningand selecting, further comprising code for causing the UE to selectfirst and second cells to support the paging service requirement and theaccess service requirement by default while the service is inactive.

Embodiments of the present disclosure further include acomputer-readable medium having program code recorded thereon, theprogram code comprising code for causing a network to send a pagingsignal to a user equipment (UE) via first cell on which the UE iscamped. The program code further comprises code for causing the networkto receive a paging response from the UE via a second cell on which theUE is camped in response to the paging signal received via the firstcell, the second cell being different from the first cell. The programcode further comprises code for causing the network to establish a dataconnection with the second cell in response to the received pagingresponse to communicate with the UE via the second cell.

The computer-readable medium further includes wherein the code forcausing the network to send the paging signal further comprises code forcausing a mobility management entity of the network to send the pagingsignal. The computer-readable medium further includes wherein the codefor causing the network to receive the paging response further comprisescode for causing the mobility management entity of the network toreceive the paging response, wherein the data connection is establishedbetween a base station of the second cell and a serving gateway of thenetwork. The computer-readable medium further includes wherein the codefor causing the network to send the paging signal further comprises codefor causing the network to send the paging signal to base stationswithin a tracking area for the UE, wherein the first cell is a celllocated within the tracking area. The computer-readable medium furtherincludes wherein the first cell is part of a first radio access radioaccess technology (RAT) network, and the second cell is part of a secondRAT network, the second RAT network being different from the first RATnetwork. The computer-readable medium further includes code for causingthe network to send a second paging signal to the UE via the first cellon which the UE is camped, and code for causing the network to receive asecond paging response from the UE via a third cell on which the UE iscamped after a change in a position of the UE in response to the secondpaging signal received via the first cell, the third cell beingdifferent from the second cell. The computer-readable medium furtherincludes wherein the code for causing the network to establish the dataconnection further comprises code for causing the network to receive,from the UE via the second cell, a connection setup completionnotification that comprises measurements of a plurality of access cellsaccessible by the UE, the second cell being among the plurality ofaccess cells. The computer-readable medium further includes code forcausing the network to select a third cell from among the plurality ofaccess cells to provide carrier aggregation in communications with theUE, and code for causing the network to send carrier aggregationconfiguration information for the second and third cells to the UE. Thecomputer-readable medium further includes code for causing the networkto select a third cell from among the plurality of access cells toprovide dual connectivity in communications with the UE, and code forcausing the network to send dual connectivity configuration informationfor the second and third cells to the UE.

Embodiments of the present disclosure further include an apparatuscomprising means for determining, by a user equipment (UE), a pagingservice requirement and an access service requirement for a service touse in communication with a network. The apparatus further comprisesmeans for selecting, by the UE, a first cell through which the UEreceives a paging service from a base station based on the pagingservice requirement. The apparatus further comprises means forselecting, by the UE, a second cell through which the UE obtains theservice based on the access service requirement.

The apparatus further includes wherein the paging service requirementcomprises an ability to receive a paging message, the means forselecting the first cell further comprising means for determiningwhether the first cell is capable of receiving the paging service fromthe network. The apparatus further includes means for connecting, by theUE, to the second cell for the service in response to a request fornetwork access for the service. The apparatus further includes whereinthe means for determining the access service requirement furthercomprises means for determining, by the UE, a latency tolerance of theservice, means for delaying, by the UE, selection of the second celluntil immediately prior to a connection establishment attempt betweenthe UE and the network in response to the determined latency tolerancebeing above a threshold, and means for proceeding, by the UE, with theselection of the second cell while the UE is in an idle mode in responseto the determined latency tolerance being at or below the threshold. Theapparatus further includes means for determining, by the UE, whether thefirst cell satisfies the access service requirement to support the UEaccessing the network via the first cell for the service, wherein thesecond cell and the first cell selected are the same in response to thefirst cell satisfying the access service requirement, and wherein thesecond cell is different from the first cell selected in response to thefirst cell not satisfying the access service requirement. The apparatusfurther includes wherein the means for determining whether the firstcell satisfies the access service requirement further comprises meansfor determining a radio access technology (RAT) type and a frequency ofthe cell, and means for comparing the RAT type and the frequency of thecell with the access service requirement of the UE. The apparatusfurther includes means for selecting, by the UE, the first cell throughwhich to receive the paging service based on a reliability level of thefirst cell, the reliability level of the first cell being greater thanthe reliability level of the second cell, and means for selecting, bythe UE, the second cell through which to access the network based on athroughput level of the second cell, the throughput level of the secondcell being greater than the throughput level of the first cell. Theapparatus further includes means for reselecting, by the UE, a thirdcell in place of the second cell through which to access the networkbased on a change in location of the UE in relation to the second cell,and means for maintaining, by the UE, the first cell through which theUE receives the paging during the reselecting. The apparatus furtherincludes means for reselecting, by the UE, a third cell in place of thefirst cell through which to receive the paging service based on a changein location of the UE in relation to the first cell, and means formaintaining, by the UE, the second cell through which to access thenetwork during the reselecting. The apparatus further includes means forselecting the first cell from a first radio access technology (RAT)network, and means for selecting the second cell from a second RATnetwork, the second RAT network being different from the first RATnetwork. The apparatus further includes means for measuring, by the UE,a characteristic of the second cell prior to selecting the second cellthrough which to obtain the service from the network. The apparatusfurther includes means for measuring, by the UE, a plurality of cells toobtain measurement information about suitability of each of theplurality of cells as an access cell for the UE, means for sending themeasurement information to the network during establishment of aconnection between the UE and the network via the second cell, and meansfor establishing, with the network, a dual connectivity or carrieraggregation connection with the network via the second cell and a thirdcell based on the measurement information sent to the network. Theapparatus further includes means for measuring, by the UE, a pluralityof cells to obtain measurement information about suitability of each ofthe plurality of cells as an access cell for the UE, means for sendingthe measurement information to the network after establishment of aconnection between the UE and the network via the second cell, and meansfor establishing, with the network, a dual connectivity or carrieraggregation connection with the network via the second cell and a thirdcell based on the measurement information sent to the network. Theapparatus further includes wherein the means for selecting the firstcell further comprises means for receiving paging cell information forthe first cell from the network, the paging cell information comprisingat least one of a macro cell indication, cell coverage information, andpaging availability information, and means for selecting the first cellbased on the received paging cell information satisfying the pagingservice requirement. The apparatus further includes wherein the meansfor selecting the second cell further comprises means for receivingaccess control information for the second cell from the network, theaccess control information comprising at least one of an accessible celllist for the service and access control information of neighboring cellsfor the service, and means for selecting the second cell based on thereceived access control information satisfying the access servicerequirement. The apparatus further includes wherein the access controlinformation further comprises barring information that has a barringrate assigned per cell, frequency, or frequency band, the means forselecting the second cell further comprising means for comparing, by theUE, the barring rate to a random number drawn by the UE at an accessattempt, and means for determining, by the UE, whether the UE can selectat least one of the cell, frequency, and frequency band to access thenetwork based on the comparing. The apparatus further includes whereinthe access control information further comprises barring informationthat has a barring rate assigned per cell, frequency, or frequency band,the barring information being defined per access class or service, themeans for selecting the second cell further comprising means forcomparing, by the UE, a barring rate associated with an access classassigned to the UE or with a service selected by the UE to a randomnumber drawn by the UE at an access attempt, and means for determining,by the UE, whether the UE can select at least one of the cell,frequency, and frequency band to access the network based on thecomparing. The apparatus further includes wherein the service is activeon the UE during the determining and selecting, the paging servicerequirement and the access service requirement being determined based onthe active service. The apparatus further includes wherein the serviceis inactive during the determining and selecting, and the UE isconfigured to select first and second cells to support the pagingservice requirement and the access service requirement by default whilethe service is inactive.

Embodiments of the present disclosure further include a network systemcomprising means for sending, from the network system, a paging signalto a user equipment (UE) via first cell on which the UE is camped. Thenetwork system further comprises means for receiving, at the networksystem, a paging response from the UE via a second cell on which the UEis camped in response to the paging signal received via the first cell,the second cell being different from the first cell. The network systemfurther comprises means for establishing, by the network system, a dataconnection with the second cell in response to the received pagingresponse to communicate with the UE via the second cell.

The network system further includes wherein the means for sendingfurther comprises means for sending the paging signal from a mobilitymanagement entity of the network system. The network system furtherincludes wherein the means for receiving further comprises means forreceiving the paging response at the mobility management entity of thenetwork system, wherein the data connection is established between abase station of the second cell and a serving gateway of the networksystem. The network system further includes wherein the means forsending further comprises means for sending the paging signal to basestations within a tracking area for the UE, wherein the first cell is acell located within the tracking area. The network system furtherincludes wherein the first cell is part of a first radio access radioaccess technology (RAT) network, and the second cell is part of a secondRAT network, the second RAT network being different from the first RATnetwork. The network system further includes means for sending, from thenetwork system, a second paging signal to the UE via the first cell onwhich the UE is camped, and means for receiving, at the network system,a second paging response from the UE via a third cell on which the UE iscamped after a change in a position of the UE in response to the secondpaging signal received via the first cell, the third cell beingdifferent from the second cell. The network system further includeswherein the establishing the data connection further comprises means forreceiving, from the UE via the second cell, a connection setupcompletion notification that comprises measurements of a plurality ofaccess cells accessible by the UE, the second cell being among theplurality of access cells. The network system further includes means forselecting, by the network system, a third cell from among the pluralityof access cells to provide carrier aggregation in communications withthe UE, and means for sending, from the network system, carrieraggregation configuration information for the second and third cells tothe UE. The network system further includes means for selecting, by thenetwork system, a third cell from among the plurality of access cells toprovide dual connectivity in communications with the UE, and means forsending, from the network system, dual connectivity configurationinformation for the second and third cells to the UE.

As those of some skill in this art will by now appreciate and dependingon the particular application at hand, many modifications, substitutionsand variations can be made in and to the materials, apparatus,configurations and methods of use of the devices of the presentdisclosure without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. In lightof this, the scope of the present disclosure should not be limited tothat of the particular embodiments illustrated and described herein, asthey are merely by way of some examples thereof, but rather, should befully commensurate with that of the claims appended hereafter and theirfunctional equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: determining, by a userequipment (UE), a paging service requirement and an access servicerequirement for a service to use in communication with a network, theservice being available to receive or transmit data; selecting, by theUE, a first cell through which the UE receives paging service from abase station based on the paging service requirement; and selecting, bythe UE, a second cell through which the UE obtains the service based onthe access service requirement.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein thedetermining the access service requirement further comprises:determining, by the UE, a latency tolerance of the service; delaying, bythe UE, selection of the second cell until immediately prior to aconnection establishment attempt between the UE and the network inresponse to the determined latency tolerance being above a threshold;and proceeding, by the UE, with the selection of the second cell whilethe UE is in an idle mode in response to the determined latencytolerance being at or below the threshold.
 3. The method of claim 1,further comprising: determining, by the UE, whether the first cellsatisfies the access service requirement to support the UE accessing thenetwork via the first cell for the service, wherein the second cell andthe first cell selected are the same in response to the first cellsatisfying the access service requirement, and wherein the second cellis different from the first cell selected in response to the first cellnot satisfying the access service requirement.
 4. The method of claim 1,further comprising: selecting, by the UE, the first cell through whichto receive the paging service based on a reliability level of the firstcell, the reliability level of the first cell being greater than thereliability level of the second cell; and selecting, by the UE, thesecond cell through which to access the network based on a throughputlevel of the second cell, the throughput level of the second cell beinggreater than the throughput level of the first cell.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: reselecting, by the UE, a third cell inplace of the second cell through which to access the network based on achange in location of the UE in relation to the second cell; andmaintaining, by the UE, the first cell through which the UE receives thepaging service during the reselecting.
 6. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: measuring, by the UE, a plurality of cells to obtainmeasurement information about suitability of each of the plurality ofcells as an access cell for the UE; sending the measurement informationto the network during establishment of a connection between the UE andthe network via the second cell; and establishing, with the network, adual connectivity or carrier aggregation connection with the network viathe second cell and a third cell based on the measurement informationsent to the network.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the selecting thefirst and second cells further comprises: receiving paging cellinformation for the first cell from the network, the paging cellinformation comprising at least one of a macro cell indication, cellcoverage information, and paging availability information; selecting thefirst cell based on the received paging cell information satisfying thepaging service requirement; receiving access control information for thesecond cell from the network, the access control information comprisingat least one of an accessible cell list for the service and accesscontrol information of neighboring cells for the service; and selectingthe second cell based on the received access control informationsatisfying the access service requirement.
 8. The method of claim 1,wherein: the paging service requirement comprises at least one ofreliability, latency, power, or coverage, and the access servicerequirement comprises at least one of throughput, latency, reliability,or cost.
 9. A method, comprising: sending, from a network, a pagingsignal to a user equipment (UE) via first cell on which the UE iscamped; receiving, at the network, a paging response from the UE via asecond cell on which the UE is camped in response to the paging signalreceived via the first cell, the second cell being different from thefirst cell; and establishing, by the network, a data connection with thesecond cell in response to the received paging response to communicatewith the UE via the second cell.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein: thesending further comprises sending the paging signal from a mobilitymanagement entity (MME) of the network, and the receiving furthercomprises receiving the paging response at the MME, wherein the dataconnection is established between a base station of the second cell anda serving gateway of the network.
 11. The method of claim 9, wherein thesending further comprises: sending the paging signal to base stationswithin a tracking area for the UE, wherein the first cell is a celllocated within the tracking area.
 12. The method of claim 9, wherein:the first cell is part of a first radio access radio access technology(RAT) network; and second cell is part of a second RAT network, thesecond RAT network being different from the first RAT network.
 13. Themethod of claim 9, further comprising: sending, from the network, asecond paging signal to the UE via the first cell on which the UE iscamped; and receiving, at the network, a second paging response from theUE via a third cell on which the UE is camped after a change in aposition of the UE in response to the second paging signal received viathe first cell, the third cell being different from the second cell. 14.The method of claim 9, wherein the establishing the data connectionfurther comprises: receiving, from the UE via the second cell, aconnection setup completion notification that comprises measurements ofa plurality of access cells accessible by the UE, the second cell beingamong the plurality of access cells.
 15. The method of claim 14, furthercomprising: selecting, by the network, a third cell from among theplurality of access cells to provide carrier aggregation or dualconnectivity in communications with the UE; and sending, from thenetwork, carrier aggregation or dual connectivity, respectively,configuration information for the second and third cells to the UE. 16.An apparatus, comprising: a processor configured to: determine a pagingservice requirement and an access service requirement for a service touse in communication with a network, the service being available toreceive or transmit data; select a first cell through which theapparatus receives a paging service from a base station based on thepaging service requirement; and select a second cell through which theapparatus obtains the service based on the access service requirement;and a transceiver configured to camp on the first cell and camp on thesecond cell after their respective selection.
 17. The apparatus of claim16, wherein the processor is further configured to: determine, as partof determining the access service requirement, a latency tolerance ofthe service; delay selection of the second cell until immediately priorto a connection establishment attempt between the apparatus and thenetwork in response to the determined latency tolerance being above athreshold; and proceed with the selection of the second cell while theapparatus is in an idle mode in response to the determined latencytolerance being at or below the threshold.
 18. The apparatus of claim16, wherein the processor is further configured to: determine whetherthe first cell satisfies the access service requirement to support theapparatus accessing the network via the first cell for the service,wherein the second cell and the first cell selected are the same inresponse to the first cell satisfying the access service requirement,and wherein the second cell is different from the first cell selected inresponse to the first cell not satisfying the access servicerequirement.
 19. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the processor isfurther configured to: select the first cell through which to receivethe paging service based on a reliability level of the first cell, thereliability level of the first cell being greater than the reliabilitylevel of the second cell; and select the second cell through which toaccess the network based on a throughput level of the second cell, thethroughput level of the second cell being greater than the throughputlevel of the first cell.
 20. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein theprocessor is further configured to: reselect a third cell in place ofthe second cell through which to access the network based on a change inlocation of the apparatus in relation to the second cell; and maintainthe first cell through which the apparatus receives the paging serviceduring the reselection.
 21. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein thetransceiver is further configured to: measure a plurality of cells toobtain measurement information about suitability of each of theplurality of cells as an access cell for the apparatus; send themeasurement information to the network during establishment of aconnection between the apparatus and the network via the second cell;and establish, with the network, a dual connectivity or carrieraggregation connection with the network via the second cell and a thirdcell based on the measurement information sent to the network.
 22. Theapparatus of claim 16, wherein: the transceiver is further configuredto: receive paging cell information for the first cell from the network,the paging cell information comprising at least one of a macro cellindication, cell coverage information, and paging availabilityinformation; and receive access control information for the second cellfrom the network, the access control information comprising at least oneof an accessible cell list for the service and access controlinformation of neighboring cells for the service; and the processor isfurther configured to: select the first cell based on the receivedpaging cell information satisfying the paging service requirement; andselect the second cell based on the received access control informationsatisfying the access service requirement.
 23. The apparatus of claim16, wherein the apparatus comprises a user equipment.
 24. A networksystem, comprising: a first node configured to: send a paging signal toa user equipment (UE) via first cell on which the UE is camped; andreceive a paging response from the UE via a second cell on which the UEis camped in response to the paging signal received via the first cell,the second cell being different from the first cell; and a second nodeconfigured to establish a data connection with the second cell inresponse to the received paging response to communicate with the UE viathe second cell.
 25. The network system of claim 24, wherein: the firstnode comprises a mobility management entity of the network system, andthe second node comprises a serving gateway of the network system. 26.The network system of claim 24, wherein the first node is furtherconfigured to: send the paging signal to base stations within a trackingarea for the UE, wherein the first cell is a cell located within thetracking area.
 27. The network system of claim 24, wherein: the firstcell is part of a first radio access radio access technology (RAT)network; and second cell is part of a second RAT network, the second RATnetwork being different from the first RAT network.
 28. The networksystem of claim 24, wherein the first node is further configured to:send a second paging signal to the UE via the first cell on which the UEis camped, and receive a second paging response from the UE via a thirdcell on which the UE is camped after a change in a position of the UE inresponse to the second paging signal received via the first cell, thethird cell being different from the second cell.
 29. The network systemof claim 24, wherein the second node is further configured to receive,from the UE via the second cell, a connection setup completionnotification that comprises measurements of a plurality of access cellsaccessible by the UE, the second cell being among the plurality ofaccess cells.
 30. The network system of claim 29, wherein the secondnode is further configured to: select a third cell from among theplurality of access cells to provide carrier aggregation or dualconnectivity in communications with the UE; and send carrier aggregationconfiguration or dual connectivity information, respectively, for thesecond and third cells to the UE.